Eureka Seven: Sting of Silence Part 2
by kasterrev
Summary: The story continues as Eureka and Renton struggle to survive the lost year in the past, fight their way back to the future, and undo the mistakes of the Inverse Drive. In it all, they fight for their love (Story Complete).
1. Chapter 13: Survive

**Eureka Seven: The Sting of Silence, Part 2**

Feeling a little lost? This is the continuation of "The Sting of Silence". I am Kaster Revised and have finally, after eight years, decided to finish my story. All the chapters are written and complete, they just need some revision. I'm going to just read over them, catch what mistakes I find, and then ship them out.

Sorry for the nearly decade long hiatus. Hopefully someone is still lingering around. If you're completely new, my story starts with **Eureka Seven: Corrupted Hopes.** The Sting of Silence is a sequel to that book. Feel free to drop a comment and let me know what you think! My writing style has changed over the years, which you'll notice in these upcoming chapters. This chapter was written nearly seven years ago, where as the last chapters were written only a few months ago. Goodluck and have fun.

**Chapter 13: Survive**

"Doctor, I'm not quite sure how much more of this he can take. His vitals are dropping significantly." The doctor, Alison, said as she removed the syringe from Renton body and tapped the tip. "The drug will keep him stabilized, but if we are to continue with this procedure for much longer…"

Renton lay limp in the chair, the writhing, yelling, and shaking finally calm after several hours of torture.

Admiral Colin remained silent and continued to stare at Renton. He stopped a few steps from the boy and lifted Renton's chin with the grip of his hand. "Are you still in there, Renton? This pain that you feel, does it not make your spirit cringe?" Renton's eyes tried to stare back, but his energy felt so drained. He coughed weakly and allowed his head to slip out of the Admiral's hand.

"How much longer will the drugs keep him awake?" The Admiral said.

"It's hard to say, even with the computers advanced registry system, it's still a decade behind the technology of our time. Judging by his weight and body composition, I would assume no more than an hour." Alison swallowed as she noticed Renton's pail body shivering in an untouchable chill.

"It's a sorrowful pity. We'll amplify the technique."

Alison quickly shot the man a look of astonishment. "Amplify the technique? That will overload his system entirely, Admiral."

Colin appeared to pause, if by the slightest motion. He then slowly turned and looked Alison directly in the eye. His eyes met hers, unmoving and precise to a direct point. "Do you mean to deny my order, Doctor?" He said so coolly, that Alison felt the threat echoing in her own soul.

The communicator on Alison's belt beeped. She caught quick look at the Admiral to see if he noticed, but he only continued to look at Renton who had become absolutely hysterical. The boy smiled at them. When she tried to tell him the torture would no longer be useful for interrogation, he simply waved her thought off as a flippant and unnecessary remark. Psychological damage would be a result if something wasn't done soon.

She pulled up the communicator and whispered, "Yes?"

"Admiral Colins?" The strong voice of the ship captain came through the communicator.

Alison looked at the device for a moment and then at Colins. "He is somewhat busy at the moment."

"There is a certain business in order that may," The man on the other side of the radio grumbled as he seemed to search for the right word, "interest him."

"I'll tell him as soon as possible."

The captain sighed. "That would probably be a good idea. It concerns the boy."

"Admiral," Alison said, but he seemed not to notice. "_Colin!"_ she said, more loudly this time. He scarcely glanced at her.

"Yes?"

"The captain is requesting your presents on a matter. Perhaps it would be best to stop the interrogation. His mind is _suffering_," she said.

"The experiment was a success. We have gathered the information we needed."

"Experiment?" Alison repeated, the word like dirt on her tongue. "You mean to tell me that you made this boy suffer just as an _experiment_?" She spat back at him.

"Calm yourself, Alison, calm yourself." The Admiral murmured while shaking his head. This experiment is a perfect success. We have all the information I need." She turned around to see the Admiral kneeling down and looking up into Renton's tortured face. "We pushed him to his limit. And for that reason, he has revealed to us his true identity. He is who I believe him to be. Is that not so, son of Adrock?"

"And what is that exactly?" She asked and brushed back loose hair at the side of her head, her eyes turning to Renton once again.

He stood up and moved over to one of the counters and began to sketch down some notes on a little pad. A few moments passed by and he looked over at her. "Nothing other than the fact that he is one of us." Alison placed her hand on her mouth, looked at the ground, and then back up at him.

"What are you talking about?" She muttered silently, letting her own thinking wheels turn in her head.

"It's truth. I didn't know there were more until I noticed something strange about this boy. He was emitting an aura inappropriate to this time." The man sighed and cusped his arms behind himself. "This makes things more difficult and confirms my theory.

Alison looked at the lifeless body sitting in the chair. Not dead, but touching the very edge thereof. "Only a few were let through and the crack was completely sealed. His being here only means one thing…."

"Indeed," he replied and opened his mouth to continue, but just as he did, the door burst open.

"ADMIRAL!" Xellien's powerful voice exploded into the room and Alison suddenly awoke from her daze. Colin raised a single brow and then slowly turned around to the new occupant within the room. The man neither heaved breath nor stumbled in his speech. "Admiral Colins." He said smoothly and smiled grimly. "I'm sure you would only be too kind to share with me what you are doing to my assistant.

Colin glanced at Renton. "We all have things we need. Unfortunately, the boy had such a need of mine. To acquire it, certain measures were required." He turned a slow eye back to Xellien. "But of course, I am wondering how is it you are here without guards surrounding you on both sides holding you in your _correct _place."

"The accusations you've placed against me were quickly placed in my inform. I relocated to this ship to disclose those accusations. I have direct command and authority from the UFF government." Xellien said and slowly stepped towards Renton. He knelt down slightly and lifted his chin, looking into his pale, rubbery eyes. "What have you done to this boy?"

"No different than you would have."

"And what does that imply, exactly, Admiral?" Xellien asked, looking up at the taller other.

"At this time, Doctor, you may be able to conceal your true intentions. But I grant you, in these times of terror and confusion, I do not let lightly on those who endanger this sacred country." He said and placed a sturdy hand on the arm of Renton's chair. "I will find out exactly what your purposes are, and the minute I have the evidence, I will condemn you and your cause." He waited a moment, staring Xellien directly in the eye. "I know who you are… Professor."

Xellien's stare did not falter by the slightest inc. "You will leave this room, Admiral." Xellien said with tone.

The admiral stared at him for some time and then the slightest smile inched at the corner of his lips. He looked over at Alison and waved an arm. "I cannot find reason for your lie, and I highly doubt you could of made it this far without your words being true. So I will concede this point. Farewell, Professor." Alison watched as the Admiral began to slowly leave out of the room. Before she lost her chance, she quickly grabbed a device from the crumbled form of the metal cabinet and started for the door.

"What have you done to this boy?" Xellien's voice followed right after her. She stopped instantly, feeling a cringe of guilt climbing up the edges of her stomach with vicious claws.

She only turned her head to the side, unwilling to face him. "We used Nano-019 machines on him."

Xellien raised a brow. "You used nano machines on a boy, they're purely experimental." She cringed at his words and gently nodded.

Xellien looked at her until his eyes began to scour about the chaos that covered the room. He sighed and nodded.

"You drove him to his limits, I see." Xellien muttered under his breath and brushed aside a pile of glass. The girl looked at him, glared, and then strutted out of the room. Xellien watched after her, a curious, almost smirkish grin on his face.

Xellien waited until the door closed. He stared at the metal panel for some time, watching the faint, shadowy reflection of his own personage. Within that reflection he could see his truer form, the form he left behind in order to pass in this time and replay his past mistakes.

A moan whimpered from Renton's lips. Xellien turned to the boy mercilessly strapped into the metal chair and began to study his condition.

"Renton. Renton, can you hear me?" he said, quieting his voice.

"Eureka?"

"No, I'm sorry Renton, Eureka isn't here."

"Eureka?" He said, this time a little more urgently.

"Do not worry. She escaped from the ship unscathed. I heard what happened. Forgive me, I could not prevent your pain." He reached up for a moment and brushed aside Renton's hair completely soaked in his salty sweat.

He gently shook his head and unstrapped him from the chair. Putting one arm around him, he lifted him to his feet and carefully balanced him against his side. "Do you think you can walk" Before he even got the words out, Renton fell straight to the floor, knees shaking wildly. "Well, it appears they've done more to you than I thought. Hold on now. Thankfully, this body is younger than my soul."

Xellien reached under with both arms and lifted Renton off of the ground. He then walked over to the door and opened it, to find a rather tall and overly fed man standing. One brow was raised rather high as if it were permanently stapled into that position.

The man didn't speak, and Xellien didn't find any reason to speak. They merely continued to stare at one another.

"May I be of assistance to you?"

The man grumbled silently, but his entire form seemed to shake. "I figured I ought to apologize for the action of Admiral Colins. I knew the order was a little unfounded, but his rank disabled me from doing much more than sit there and watch. Is the boy alright?" The man said and shot an inquisitive stare at Renton.

"I believe the Admiral sucked the life right out of him, Captain Maccal." The captain perked at the mention of his name.

"Ah, I see. I've already commanded the infirmary to remain on standby throughout the entire session. Seeing as how the admiral never gave such a command himself, nor did I expect he would."

"Very gracious of you." Xellien stiffly replied and gave a brisk smile. "I'm sorry, captain- but I feel tha-,"

"Are you absolutely sure, Doctor? The boy doesn't seem to be fairing all that well. It looks as if the very blood in his body has been poured out!" The man gruffly stuttered his excitement.

Xellien paused patiently. He realized the intentions of this captain; a kind heart, but a slightly blind mind. "Forgive me more my bluntness captain, but I have to take my leave. I'm afraid these spaces have become a danger to us, and I'm afraid for the safety of my assistant and others. Those whom were within my trust are now under my responsibility."

"Ah, I see. Understandable. The Admiral is a feisty one, if you care to ask me. But you are right. I am keeping you, though I must insist you at least stop by the infirmary. He should be rejuvenated before travel. Isn't that so, Doctor?" The captain gave a brisk smile at Renton and then back up at Xellien. The Professor grimaced at the Captain's smile. This elderly fellow clearly had no comprehending of how much pain and agony Renton had just gone through.

"I will do just that, Captain. Thank you for your time. May you wish me much luck." Before the Captain could waste another precious moment of their time, he left. Things were becoming uneven, the world that Xellien thought he had such a tight hold on, was beginning to turn his back on him. Just like before. Colin knew, and that change everything.

His eyes tenderly looked upon the boy he carried, his body so frail in his arm, but he knew the spirit to be so strong inside. The boy would survive.

"Forgive me, Renton, but I must unite the two of you again. You two are the key to many great things. Apart, everything will fail. But together, my plans are insured." He whispered and turned the corner.

Renton thought he could hear the distance billowing waves of ocean water crashing on sandy beaches. The sound was so pleasant to his ears, so relaxing. He listened for just a moment more until gently, very gently, the sound grew into silence.

His eyes slowly slid open to see a face waving back and forth above his head. It took a moment, but the features suddenly became clear. "Xellien?" He croaked through a thirsty throat. He coughed and realized the two strong arms carrying him down the long hall. He tried to remember where he was, but his brain felt so foggy and warm, he didn't really care either way.

"Ah, Renton, this is good. For that moment there, I was worried we might be facing a case of never awaking again." The elderly man gave him a once over and then turned a tight corner.

"Where am I? What," he struggled for a moment as his mind literally numbed, "is going on?"

"You're aboard a U.F Carrier just over Senneka. You won't be here for long." They rounded another corner, but that was all Renton could make out, everything still blurred before his eyes.

"Where's Eureka?" He asked, starting to feel his legs and arms again.

Xellien remained silent for a moment. Renton waited for an answer, wondered, and then fear began to take over the emptiness inside him. "Where is she, Professor?" He asked, more sternly than before.

"To be perfectly honest with you Dear Renton, I have absolutely no idea."

His eyes grew wide and his mind kicked into full awareness. "What o you mean you don't know?"

"As in I haven't a clue, the answer escapes me, or that which you seek cannot be found here. By the time I got here, Eureka and Shara had already escaped on their own. Feel assured that Eureka is perfectly safe at this time. I know this with no morsel of doubt." He stopped looked down at the ground and then at Renton. "Can you walk now?"

Renton rubbed the sides of his legs and wiggled his toes. He took a breath and slipped out of his arms and down onto the metal floot. A burst of feeling shot up his legs and grasped the based o his spine. "Ah." He muttered and crouched on the floor.

"I'll give you a moment." Xellien said as he looked over Renton. "But only a moment, we must leave quickly. This admiral of sorts will find his methods."

"How do you know Eureka is safe?" Renton asked, ignoring everything else not concerning his love.

"Answered simply enough, she's with Shara."

"How does that make a difference?"

Xellien raised a brow and twisted his head just a tidbit. "Because I have placed trust higher than hers in only so few. One, ironically enough, being her own son." He shook his head and knelt down next to Renton would waited for the tingles to subside from his legs. "Just have a little with me?"

Renton lifted his head and locked eye contact with this elderly man who he knew only so well. This man being one who could read his emotions and his desires without even so much as a glance in his direction. But as his eyes dug at the man, for whatever reason that engaged his inner mind, he trusted him.

Renton gently lowered his head in the smallest nod. Xellien smiled broadly and stood up. "Excellent, then we best better be going. Colin is has most likely made his quicker move, and more likely the captain will attempt to slow him down. Things are stirring strangely now, more so than I had predicted." He looked down the hall. "But I will compensate, that I promise you Renton. Now stand and let's leave this ship while it's still possible."

Renton staggered to his feet, sharp spikes and pains tingling through his body as he did so. Gritting his teeth, he began to step, walk, and then run down the hall with Xellien easily beside him.

As the pain shook at him, his thoughts turned to Eureka. He wanted to be afraid, and in part he was, but he couldn't shake this feeling of trust he had for Xellien. Despite what the Coralians had said in warning him, he felt some sort of protection from this man. If it were real, then he knew he would be safe, but if it were fake, then this man's power of manipulation was more powerful and frightening than he could imagine.

He looked up at the man running beside him, face still and calm with a fraction of grin on the side of his lips. Who was this man, Renton wondered, and why did the Coralian's distrust him so? Should he do the same?

Shaking his head, the thought slipped from his mind. The kind smile on his face wouldn't take him or Eureka from their plan. They would keep their promise to Norbu . They would stop him and bring him back. For now he could work to discover what this man intended to do with his time in the past. He would find it.

Blue skies and white clouds all over in their natural positions, the sky. Eureka sat on the bench looking up at the sky, her thoughts were where they had been for the last hours between leaving the ship and now.

"Renton." She whispered quietly.

"What was that?" Shara said as she sat right down next to her. She held to large grey duffle bags.

Eureka looked at her and then back up at the sky. "Nothing."

"Fascinating," she said, not honestly. "This is the last bus ride to our destination. Have you been drinking water like I asked?" Shara waited for an answer, but she didn't get one. "You're a grown woman. You can take care of yourself, I apologize."

From that point Shara became completely silent. A single bench, on a single asphalt road, in a large, green grassy field that drew on plainly and pointlessly. On the right of the bench was a large blue sign with the letters "U.T.T." plastered at the top. Whatever it meant, Eureka didn't care. They traveled to a place with a name, but she couldn't remember the name. Shara may have mentioned it at some time, but Eureka didn't think she paid attention at the time.

"You should stop that, you know." Shara said as though they had been making conversation for some time. Eureka didn't make a response, she kept her eyes on a cloud that drifted slowly through the blue vastness. "You're being selfish towards Renton."

Eureka felt her entire attention center in on Shara at once. In her mind she felt as though she had just burst through the surface of water after having been down for hours. "What?" She said, squeezing her brows together.

"I said you're being selfish."

"But how?"

"Well look at yourself. How is your self pity any respect to him?"

Eureka wasn't quite sure what she was talking about. "I… I don't know what you mean?"

Shara looked at her for a moment and then tilted her head. "You are a strange one, aren't you? Well how else do I put it?" She swung one knee over the other and leaned back in the bench. "Renton means a lot to you right?" Eureka nodde. "I didn't think it took much thought for me, but then I guess I'm the only me there is, isn't there?" She chuckled to herself. "You're absent, Eureka, your thoughts are completely on him. While worrying for him isn't wrong, dwelling on those feelings to the point of self pity, is a sin."

"But I do not pity myself. I'm only worried for Renton." Eureka said as the concept twisted at her mind. How was she doing something wrong?

"Now don't turn on me, I'm only telling you what you need to here. You're doing nothing wrong, you're worry is the proof of your love. But, you're doing nothing but worrying and your love has become selfish."

"My love is selfish?" Eureka said, shocked.

Shara looked at Eureka for a moment and then pursed her lips. "I guess I have to choose my words a little more wisely when it comes to talking to you." She squinted down at the base of the bench, caught in deep thought.

"Ah, I have it." Shara said. "You see Eureka, what would it be better for you to do. Should you dwell on your worry for Renton and having left him, or should you concentrate on what you're going to do now in joining back with him?"

Eureka paused. She felt something tick inside her head, a thought of some sort that seemed to pull this all together. She tried to concentrate on the feeling, that meaning buried deep inside her. Suddenly she realized what she meant. "I'm not helping him by only worrying about him, am I?"

Shara smiled tightly and nodded her head in short nods. "Exactly! Worry about him _only_ will do you no good."

"But what else can I do? He's so far out there." Eureka looked out towards the clouds stretching over the side in broad waves. "I can't do anything for him."

"My friend, you're acting as though you're just adjusting to this world for the first time." Eureka looked at her but made no comment. "And somehow I think that's true. But listen Eureka, there is one thing you can do that Renton himself is thinking about himself right. So I would hope he's thinking about."

"What is it?"

"Survive." Shara smiled and leaned back in her chair.

Eureka couldn't understand why it hadn't exactly occurred to her sooner. Concentrating so much on Renton and doing nothing but feel sorry for herself. It really was selfish.

She felt the sting of tears sift at the tips of her eyes and bubble at the rims of her nose, but she pushed back the feel and swallowed. "I'll do whatever I can to survive." Eureka said in her determination. "I promise him."

Shara watched from the side of the bench, partly entertained, partly impressed.

A loud hum burst from above and roared in deep rumbles. The air around them became violent, pushing over the duffle bags and tossing their hair up into the air.

"It's here." Shara yelled through the wind and picked up her lopsided duffle bag.

"What is?" Eureka asked, shielding her eyes from the intense wind.

"The Universal Trapar Transit. Come on, this will take us to our last destination." Eureka looked up to see a large black shuttle slowly dropping towards them. It seemed to be the same side as the Nirvash in height, and the design somewhat reminded her of the UF transport shuttles.

She gripped her duffle bag and stood up. Whatever waves would come her way, she would find Renton again. She would survive until that time came. She promised.


	2. Chapter 14: Remember

**Chapter 14: Remember**

Renton couldn't help it, he found himself counting the minutes. How much time would pass, he wondered, until Eureka would be seen again? Minutes turned into hours, hours into days, and soon days into weeks. The feeling felt impossible inside of him, and his chest ache with a dull pain.

Xellien, for the most part, remained completely reserved. He talked to Renton every now and again, but he mostly kept himself apart, concentrating on some other far more important task. They settled down in cities Renton didn't recognize, places where the buildings were of an older architecture. He could only recall them in pictures taken before the First Summer of Love. These visions of the past left something cold in his heart. He didn't want to be here anymore. It felt like being around a man who would be executed the next day. You couldn't stop it, and that didn't feel right.

In the few opportunities he had, when Xellien seemed to be resting, Renton decided to do a little investigating.

"What exactly is it you're planning on doing, Professor?" Or at least just blatantly ask.

The elderly man glanced at him briefly and then continued glancing back at his small book. "Do you really want to know?"

Renton hesitated by surprise. "Would you tell me?"

"If you're that curious, I don't see what harm it will do." Xellien closed his book, folded his arms, and settled himself into a more comfortable position. "I plan to fix everything."

Renton felt perplexed by what he said, unable to comprehend the specific plan in such a broad statement. "How?"

"Quite obvious, don't you think? Change the past."

"But what are you doing in the past?" More than likely, Xellien was just toying with his nerves to see how he reacted.

"Honestly Renton, the plan is really quite simple in its complex design." He smiled. "Would you like to hear it?"

"Haven't I practically asked that question." Xellien merely smiled opened to his mouth to speak, but stopped. A light on the console began to blink a bright lime green. He swiveled in his pilots chair and tapped the screen, which then lit up the face of a small map. The land mass which consisted of their planet left little to be seen of water. Seven red dots popped around the map of the planet.

"What are those?" Renton asked.

"These are the seven locations where major battles that took place between the United Federation and several other countries." He swung his foot over his leg and clicked a button. Six of the red dots flickered yellow and the other two turned blue. "The majority of those battles ended neutrally."

"Neutrally?" The two green blue dots were close so the east. "And the blue ones?"

"The only battles that made a difference in the war. Didn't you ever study history, Renton?"

"Yeah," he said and thought back to his last days in schools. He could have probably spent more time paying attention in class. Little difference it made now that he was in the past. "Actually, no," he corrected bashfully.

Xellien shook a finger on him as he slid on a pair of thin rimmed glasses. "You ought to. Your Father certainly made the Thurston family stand out in it." The elderly fellow stood straight and went silent.

"Hey, aren't you going to tell me the rest?" Renton asked.

"The rest of what?" he said without giving a returning glance.

"You know, your plan." It irritated him how this man treated him like a kid. Holland never treated him like that. Well, at least not after he left.

"You mean my _secret _plan about resolving all of our problems? Yours and mine? Renton, don't underestimante me. I've been given a gift, and with this gift I will," he said and stopped as though something caught in his throat. Renton turned to see that he was no longer looking at the computer screen but down at his hands. He tried to raise his head up and see what it was, but Xellien quickly closed his hand and slipped something into his pocket. "Just trust me, child. I know what I'm doing.

Xellien stood up and moved to the back of the ship. "Night time is approaching, I'll prepare you a bed. In a few hours we'll pass over Johntown. Once there, I will wake you."

Renton scowled as he started making his way to the back. Now that he thought about it, he didn't like it how he called him child either.

The hustle and bustle of the airport bothered Eureka. She could handle herself on a battlefield for hours and be tossed back and forth by gun and wind. However, she just couldn't seem to handle herself in places where the local vicinity breached a hundred people. Her eyes darted and glanced at every person that bumped into her, checking their sides for guns or hands for knives.

"Are you alright?" Shara asked as she calmly yet briskly stepped around an older woman.

"Yes," she said, the lie sizzling in her stomach.

"You're not much for crowds, are you?"

She looked off to the side and let out a stuttered huff, "I've never been in a place with so many before."

"Relax. These people are just your average joes. The worst they'll do is give you a pamphlet or ask for your number."

Eureka frowned and looked back at the people as they broke from the line and starting heading towards one of the large windows. "Why would they ask for my number?"

Shara wrapped an arm around her shoulder and said, "come on now, Eureka, you're a cute girl. Didn't you know? You got to be careful in parts like these."

She didn't understand, but supposed it wasn't really important. Why would a cellphone have anything to do with her ability to be cute? Perhaps it had something to do with make-up.

The idea sort of bothered her, so she pushed it out of her head. There were more important things to worry about.

"There she is," Shara said, a bit of the excitement leaking through her voice.

Eureka looked out the window and saw a large arrow shaped ship sitting on the ground. Small black dots moved around beneath it, people moving about getting in and out. "What's that?"

"The flagship, and we're getting on board."

Eureka felt a shiver of surprise run up her stomach. "We're going to get on the flagship? The security will be unbreakable" Eureka said quietly. She never had much experience with infiltration. Her talents lied with the proper "shoot and kill" technique. It was often effective.

"Don't worry," Shara gave a catty wink as they approached the military wing of the airport, "I have a secret weapon."

"What's that?" Eureka intently walked closes to her in case she whispered.

"Good looks and charm, Sweet Heart," a man called over from one of the security passes. He looked at Shara like a wolf might at fresh meet.

Shara giggled and almost pranced her way to the stand. She held her hands out together. "Guilty as charged."

The man returned with a smile that Eureka didn't quite understand. She also wondered why Shara had doubled the amount of times she blinked her eyes.

"Shara, is something wrong with your eyes?"

The red head patted her shoulder, "not now, Sweety."

The man stood tall, broad shouldered, and probably enough muscles to rip right through his shirt. The tailor really ought to have assigned him a bigger shirt. It couldn't have been comfortable, or so she thought.

"The names Fork," his voice sounded unnaturally low, almost force. He must be recovering from a sickness, she though. "What ship you going to?"

Shara excitedly pointed out to the large black flagship outside the windows. "I'm going there. I was just reassigned. Could you do me a favor and give a call to my friend in room 205, deck three? They're going to show me around."

"Let me take a look," he clicked over a touch computer display. On it Eureka was able to see an outline of the ship and its many rooms. He clicked through it until one portion of the ship enlarged. "What's the name?"

"Clarrisa," Shara said a little too sweetly.

"Yup, that's her," he said, reaching under the stand and pulling out two passes. "You know, missy. I'm just two decks down, room fifty three. My break shifts are between 6:00 and 9:00 o'clock, you should drop by."

"Thank you for the pass!" She said, not hearing his comment, or ignoring it all together. She started her way down the hall. Eureka glanced between the man whose eyes dimmed slightly after she left, but quickly followed.

"Why did he let you pass without identification?" Eureka said as she caught up with her.

"Like he said, good looks and charm."

"That's a powerful weapon," Eureka said, slightly awed by her manipulative abilities, although she didn't fully understand them.

"That's not the weapon I was referring to, Sweetheart. Besides, the UF may have the majority in weapons and soldiers, but the majority of those are half-brained hunks. Also, we're registered soldiers, you and I. The only problem that we face is whether we can get on this ship, seeing as we're not assigned to it."

They passed the several soldiers leaving and entering their individual ships. On either side of them were large paneled windows where they could see numerous military ships. Battle cruisers, frigates, and other types of aircrafts sat on ground level like animals ready to leap at their prey. A shiver ran down her spine. This is how their world revolved around a military government, through a devastating war.

As her eyes looked out over the far off horizon something deep inside her stirred. For a just a moment, she thought she could see herself walking across the bridge of the Gekko-Go, looking out over an ocean of puffy white clouds. The green fields turned into a green glittery trapar, sparkling like a school of fish in the ocean.

"Eureka," Shara said, breaking into her thoughts. She looked forward in time to see Shara enter the ship and follow after her. Pushing the thoughts beside, she followed her into the ship port. However, a tight sadness touched her stomach as she thought of the kids and Renton.

After passing several halls and doors, they entered into the hanger. The room was filled with an assortment of aircrafts, certain ones she didn't recognize. She saw strange arrow shaped flat crafts placed in rows of seven. "What are those?" Eureka asked as she admired their elegant shape. It reminded her of the Mach 2 of the Nirvash.

"Those? You've never seen one before," Shara asked, partly surprised, "they're jet fighters. So," she took a breath, "where _you_ come from, there aren't any of those?"

Eureka admired their simple design. The hair on her skin raised a little as she looked at the row of them. Their arrow tipped heads, sleek metal padding, and with wings as tight as a knife startled her slightly. "I haven't seen one before. I think."

"What do you use?" She asked.

"LFO's and KLF's," she responded and started slowing down as the neared the exit from the hanger.

"L.F.L.'s? nevermind, sorry I asked."

"Hey, you two," came a voice from the side of the air traffic station. A gangly fellow with thinning white hair stammered his way out and adjusted his glasses. "Where are your tags?"

Eureka frowned and looked to Shara, but on her face was the smallest smile she'd ever seen. "Hey big gu-,"

"Shut it, I want to see your tags now. Where are they?" The man was quickly approaching them, despite his age worn body. He seemed like the type who lost his patience for anything, or anyone for that matter, a long time ago.

The smile of Shara's face vanished and she took a small step back. Eureka had a sudden idea, "Shara, use the secret weapon."

"Sorry sweety, I'm not sure that's going to work right now."

"Shara?" Another voice came from behind them. They both turned around to see a medium sized fellow with military cut hair. He had subtle blue eyes, brown hair with glances of blond in the right light. "Hey sweetheart, I've been waiting for you."

Shara let out a small shriek as she hopped up and landed right into his arms. "Darling!"

"Honey Cake!"

"Buttersweets!"

"Dark Chocolate Dip!"

She hesitated and squeezed her eyes at him, "oh, you're good."

With a wink he said, "Just don't start purring."

"Captain Stillicker," the grumpy skinny man cracked, "can _you_ explain why they don't have tags?"

"Sorry John, they just transferred in and no official documents have been prepared. I'll get right on it, but they belong to me, the both of them."

The old man looked between the two of them, his eyes looking for some sort of sign of suspicion. But Shara's face was far too giddy to really reveal anything. And Eureka, well, expressed nothing.

"Bah, what do I don't care," he waved a limp hand at them and turned back to his office, "don't be gettin' me in trouble, Stillicker."

Eureka curtly walked up, feeling a little more a like a distraction at how much these two were concentrated on the other. Their eyes sparkled from the light pouring from the open hanger door. The look drew her back to those wonderful last moments she had with Renton before coming to this time. She reached a hand out but quickly pulled it back. "Uh," she said, "who's this?" she said and tried to stay polite.

"This," Shara said and rapped her arms around his kneck, "is my husband, Still."

The man winked, "At your service."

"Are you awake?" a small voice whispered across the small room. Renton's eyes shot open and he sat up. Something felt different than before, but he couldn't quite see what it was. He looked around the room and everything seemed fine. Then he realized that things were oddly quiet. The growling sound of wind battering against the hull was non-existent.

"Xellien?" Renton called out but didn't even hear the tiny echo of his voice. He felt as though he were standing in open field. The absence of sound unsettled his stomach.

"No, I'm not him," the voice returned, quietly and gently. This time he noticed the female tone. He didn't remember there being a woman on the shuttle.

His heart jumped a beat, though impossible the thought was, "Eureka?"

The girl, or what he assumed to be a girl, giggled, "not really. But I think we're related. I feel something special about her too. Like you Renton."

The hightlights of the room began to shift colors. The greys and blue started become more pink and red. A glow poured out from the viewports and from within the cracks of the small lockers. He felt his heart pick up a bit at this strange change of setting.

"Relax, Renton. You don't have to be afraid of me," the girl said soothingly.

"I don't _feel_ like I have a choice."

"Just look over here," the voice came from the doorway leading to the cockpit. He turned to see a bright light standing at the door, which tightened the muscles in his kneck and nearly threw him from his bed. But when his eyes adjusted, the glowing light solidified and revealed a woman. She wasn't exactly like other woman, with everything, including her strange clothing, glowing a soft pink. As a matter of fact, she almost seemed transparent. A light pulsed through her body like a gentle heartbeat.

A scream began making its way from his stomach to his throat and nearly made it out before the pinkish woman placed a finger on his lips. A familiar feeling washed through his body and he felt like, for reasons he couldn't understand, he knew her.

"I've never seen a human respond so quickly and correctly to the trapar before. You are special, aren't you?" The woman smiled kindly, her glow washing a warm ray on his cheeks.

"Do I know you?" Renton asked.

The woman's eyes widened, "I don't believe I've met you before."

"Why do you seem so familiar then?"

The woman sat down next to him, leaving him feel slightly crowded on the small bench bed. Something about her also reminded him of Eureka, but he hadn't the slightest as to why.

"I'm what I think you call a spirit," she said confidently.

"You're a ghost?" The shiver started up in his stomach again like a startled squirrel.

She giggled again and shook her head, "No, I haven't been born yet. But you can see me, Renton, that's why I came. That's you're gift. I'm like your friend who came with you."

Renton frowned and started thinking. How could she be like Eureka? His eyebrows raised slightly as the realization turned on in his head, "you're a coralian?"

This time she nodded. "I've been sent to watch over you."

Then it hit him. During the torture, something had reached out to him, keeping him from falling into insanity at the end of the torture. It made him smile against the pain. "You're the voice I heard while I was being tortured, right?"

"Yes," she responded, the glow in her body dimming slightly. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop him. Some humans are more responsive to the trapar than others. The captain was the only one in the ship who could feel me, and all I could motivate him to do was be concerned."

Renton wasn't sure how to react, not having heard anything like this from Norbu, Eureka, or Holland. However, he did remember the thousands of people he saw inside of the command cluster. Maybe she was like that? Whatever she was, she had saved his life. "Thank you."

Her glow picked up again. "You're welcome."

A grin touched his face, "for a second I thought that was Eureka reaching out to me, not you."

"She could, if she wanted to. You're both like me, more than you know."

He frowned, "what do you mean?"

She stood up, or rather floated up, and her glow began to increase. She moved over to the window and looked out. "That body you have isn't really yours, is it?"

Now that he remembered, it wasn't. This body belonged to a man whose name he wasn't even sure he remembered correctly. Supposedly, according to Norbu, physically moving matter back in time was nearly impossible, but the mind or spirit of a person, not so much. "Why are you here?"

"To watch over you, of course!" she said with a patter of admiration, more towards herself. "Isn't that what I said? I'm sorry if I didn't."

The innocence in her tones and expressions reminded him of a small child. He stood up as well, feeling oddly light and numb. "No, I mean, why now?"

"To let you know that you're never alone. So long as you can trust what you feel, then you'll never drift apart."

"From you?" Renton asked. The ship suddenly shook and the reddish and pinkish glows suddenly began receding back into their places. The woman looked up , startled and wary, but it quickly faded back into a small smile.

"No, from her."

He suddenly felt gravity turning over, forcing him to fall through the door and back towards the cockpit, "Wait!" he yelled and then felt himself fling from his bedside. He quickly looked around and noticed that he was back in his bed as though he had never left it. The growling walls filled his ears and the bluish grey setting returned to normal.

"I'm Rose," a voice whispered into his thoughts.

"What? Rose?" Renton echoed back.

"Is something troubling you?" Xellien appeared at the door way, his skinny body but impressive height towered over Renton. "A bad dream?"

"Uh," he muttered and tried to procces the question. He wasn't sure if you could call that a dream or a vision. "No, just sleep talking, I think."

Xellien eyed him a moment more, but then gave the slightest calculated shrug. "Very well, we've arrived anyway. Get ready, we're about to land for resupplies-," the ship shook before he could finish his sentence. The light turned from cool white to a harsh blinking red. "That was unexpected," Xellien said.

"Shouldn't we check it out?" Renton asked.

"Ah, correct." He shook his head as though in a daze and arrived at his terminal. The screen, which displayed more like a hologram, flickered and showed their current location over the planet. Renton assumed that the tiny red dot approaching the coastline was them. Farther down, he could see blue much larger dot quickly gaining behind them. His stomach turned a notch.

Outside the viewport, an explosion flashed across the screen and shook the ship.

"Why are they shooting us?" Renton yelled as he slammed against the other side of the shuttle.

"They're not shooting at us but around us. They're warning shots. I think they want us to dock in their ship."

"Haven't they sent a communication?" He asked and rubbed the right side of his back which began to sting from the bump.

"Oh yes, they've been trying to communicate with us for the last thirty minutes. I haven't responded." He raised a hand before Renton could ask why. "I have been checking their ship idea for the last half hour and I can't find a match in any of our databases," he said and let out a shaky breath, "which is never a good sign. Could be pirates, smugglers, or other undesirable company."

The ship shook again, nearly sending Renton to the floor. "What are we going to do then?"

"We don't really have a choice, at this point. This ship is not equipped nor designed to escape a situation like these. It's just a classic long distant transport shuttle." He rubbed the edge of his nose as his eyes flickered between the screen and a blinking communications button on the keyboard. He reached for it. Renton shivered. "We board."

"So as you can see, that's how you pull the Jerry Swing Maneuver," Stiller said from the front of the class. They were situated in the hanger with three rows with about ten students each row. Amongst them was Eureka and Shara, sitted in the front row near Stiller, at the insistence of Shara. Next to her husband was a large blackboard, and on that was a mesh of arrows and poorly written notes. It looked more like a doodle by Linck than a diagram by a grown man.

"Alright," Stiller said giving the group a hard stare, like a commander would to his students, "who here doesn't understand?" Everyone in the class raised their hands. "What? Come on guys, this is the _third _time I've explained it. Either you're not listening or I'm just not teaching well. Which is it?"

A scraggly haired man at the back raised his hand.

"You who looks like they just woke up."

"I think it's you're teaching, captain," the boy said honestly and curtly. Eureka halfed expect the class to laugh, but they all sat politely. For a new group, they appeared to at least respect their captain despite his terrible handwriting, drawing, and teaching abilities. She actually wondered why they listened at all.

"Blast, sorry kids. Fine, I'll just show you. We'll get back together at test flight hour and we'll perform an example flight. Better?"

"Yes sir," they all responded simultaneously.

"Alright, dismissed," he lazily waved their hand at them and they all stood up at once and filed out rather orderly. He sat down in his chair and let out a big sigh and stared at the white board. "I don't get what I'm doing wrong. I explain it as clear as day. I say it how it is."

Shara walked over to him and forced him to make a little room on his chair so she could sit with him. "Honey, it's not your word choice, it's the overall presentation. It's just terrible."

He nodded. "I know."

She pecked his cheek with a small kiss and began rubbing his back. "Don't worry sweety, you'll eventually get better. Someday."

One of his eyebrows popped up, "why do you say it like it's not going to happen for the next few years?"

"Oh," she patted his back, "don't get your hopes up. It'll take longer than that" They stayed silent for a second and then burst out laughing.

"I think you're the only person who knows how to cheer me up through indirect insults."

"Isn't that why you married me?" she said with a little light in her eyes.

Eureka didn't feel comfortable watching anymore. She was starting to get tired of the love demonstrations in front of him. All it did was constantly remind her of the chilly air beside her. She too wanted to hear from Renton. She wanted to hear his childish humor, talk to him, feel his arms around her. Sometimes she really worried how he was and what he was doing. Was he still alive?

She shoved the dark chilling thought from her mind. No, Shara said Xellien could be trusted to protect Renton. She had to believe that was true, but she didn't really have anything else to believe in. It was her in the middle of nowhere following a love struck lady who looks like she's forgotten the whole reason they came.

She looked over in time to see the two stand up from their own little world.

"Shara," Eureka said, trying to keep the iciness from her voice. It didn't really work. "What are we doing?"

Shara shifted weight and touched her hands together, looking as though her center of gravity had just reversed. She nervously glanced at Stillicker and sighed. "I guess I can't ignore it much longer, can I?"

"Sorry Eureka," Stiller chimed in for the first time. She and him hadn't really talked directly one to other, at least not more than polite getting-to-know-you conversation. "It's been a year since we've seen eachother and, well, you can imagine. We didn't want to bother you, it just kind of flopped out like that, I guess. Have you ever been separated from a love one before?"

A twang of guilt and surprise nipped at her stomach and she looked away. "Yeah."

"Well, it's kind of-," he stopped as Shara bumped his knee. It was meant to be descreet, but Eureka caught it out of her eye. She probably shouldn't be so sensitive.

"I just want to know why we're here," she said, keep her eyes on the floor and fighting images of Renton.

"Actually," Stiller shifted his attention back to Shara, "why are you here?"

With the attention now on Shara, she straightened up and brushed back her hair. The frilly giddiness melted from her face, replaced with a familiar professional stare. Love time was over.

"Is it safe to talk here?" Shara glanced at Stiller. He nodded before sitting down. "Well Eureka, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but neither of us belong to UF. We're here to check on things. How much do you know about the war?"

She gave a lifeless shrug. "I don't know anything."

Shara erased the board and began to draw a simple map of the world. She marked out eight territories and pointed at the largest which made up more than a third of the eight all put together. "This is UF space and is made up of six nations who joined the United Federation near the beginning of the war. The agenda is to unite the countries into one, but the rest," she tapped the other seven, "are not so inclined. They're resisting for independence, but the UF consists of states wealthier and more developed. They're of the remaining royal states."

The world royal sizzled inside her thought. Now she was beginning to understand. It made sense. People dressed in flashing suits and clothes flashed before her eyes. The royals had major influence, but eventually the military would overpower them in the end. On their back, the military would become the overruling force in the world and the royals would become mere funding projects.

"The UF is winning the war, and will continue to do so, unless something is done."

"Then what are _we_ doing?" Eureka repeated.

She shrugged sharply, "waiting until we get there."

"You're coming a little late into the game, Eureka," Stiller said quietly, trying to introduce a softer tone in the heat building between them.

She ignored it. "And Renton?"

"You know," she said, teeth tight, "that's all I ever hear from you. You just sit there worrying your pale little face off instead of trying to help us keep a low profile. The idea is simple. We wait."

Eureka rushed to her feet. "Wait? That's _all_ we ever do. You with your flirting, and kissing, and acting like everything is okay. I'm missing Renton! We have to be together." She could hear Norbu's word's inside her head poking at her guilt. If she had listened to Renton and trusted him, then none of this would have happened.

"Could I add something?" Stiller said, his voice like a block of ice in boiling water. She and him had rarely talked, despite having spent much time together. But it wasn't really his fault. Wherever Eureka was, so was Shara, and Wherever Shara and Stiller were in the same place, Eureka might has well have been invisible.

However, there was a true genuiness that calmed the storm raging within her. It partly reminded her of Renton.

"Look, Eureka. I know you're worried about Renten," he continued.

"Retern," Shara mistakingly corrected him.

"But you have to understand how this is going to work. This man you two mentioned to me before. What was it, Xellien? He has said he'll meet us there tomorrow."

"Exactly," Shara breathed out. "That is exactly the case. If there is anyone who can help us with Renton, it's him."

She didn't sit well with the idea of trusting in Xellien again. The whole problem started with him in the first place, since before either of them were aware of any of this. But she couldn't share information like that. Not with running the risk of saying too much.

She looked away. "Where are we meeting him?"

"Gingrich," Stilled said.

The name rang inside her head as she played through the images and thoughts it brought with it. Without a second more, it all clicked. "The turning Battle."

"The what?" Stiller said, looking at Shara.

She shot Eureka warning glare and then looked back at him with a smile empty of threat. "Nothing, just something we talked about the other day.

She had forgotten that Shara instructed to share very little about anything time related to Stiller. He didn't even know that she was from the future. It was better that way, probably. The less people knew the less doubt and confusion it would cause.

Her eyes drifted to Shara, who's face was still slightly red from her brief break of temper. The woman had tightness about her that brought Talho to mind. She certainly seemed professional and smart, and knew how to keep a secret. Over these last few days, she barely mentioned Xellien, but their two whole weeks together revealed that she was fully committed to helping him out. In her experience both in the military and Gekko-Go, it was impossible to find someone willing to dedicate much to a person without condition or force. So what was forcing Shara? What did Xellien have on her?

Renton squinted as light spilled through the edges of the shuttle door. It slid down with a sharp thump. Despite their dire situation, Xellien kept to himself and appeared completely calm. His plain expression and the faint touch of his everylasting smile came more a reassurance this time than an irritation. Maybe he had things undercontrol.

Once his eyes adjusted, he saw a three sets of two military dressed officers, or at least what appeared to be military officers. Xellien had his doubts, but told him to treat them as though they were from the military anyway. Showing any suspicious would only risk their chances of escaping or leaving without having too much taken, if anything, at least their lives.

Two of the officers slowly made their way towards the door and peared inside. A flashlight glanced across them both, it bright beaming burning at his eyes. He blinked away a tear and tried to make out their faces, but they were practly shadows against the outside lights.

"Your names," a deep voice called from one of the two. The sound of it sent a shiver down his spine, but he wasn't too sure altogether why. Something about the voice seemed familiar.

"Dr. James," replied Xellien coolly, not showing an speck of the nerves Renton felt.

"You, what's your name?" the man said in a voice layed with suspicion and the light flicked over at him, catching his eyes that hadn't adjusted quite yet.

A thin layer of sweat formed on his forehead, "officer Gerald, sir," he said in a shaky tone.

There was another pause and then the light switched off. "Our apologies, gentlemen. Just taking some excessive precautions. Step down,"

They quietly made their way off the vehicle, and for the first time Renton could see they were in a hanger very much like the one on the first ship they had boarded. He looked around and saw several fighters and other attack vehicles. Older designs, but brand new here in this time. Probably a detail he shouldn't voice out loud. However, the hanger seemed much smaller than it should have. He looked at either end and couldn't put his finger on it, but it seemed outside of proportion.

The man they had been talking to was a tall man with long white hair. When he turned around, Renton nearly jumped from his position.

"I'm Moreck Derwin," he said, but Renton knew that that wasn't his name. The man standing before him was none other than Dewey Novack.

"Ah, Captain Moreck Derwin," Xellien said, "I should have recognized your style."

The other gave a curt nod and gave a sharp glance at Renton. "Well, Dr. Jame, I'm sure you're all to familiar with a _low_ profile. Although this situation isn't related to your projects, we'll have to keep you aboard."

For the first time, Renton felt Xellien stiffen beside him. "May I ask why?"

"Classified matters not related to you, nothing else. You'll be assigned room of stay and confined to your quarters until our operation is done." His eyes coolly looked over Xellien, "and please, Doctor, don't give us trouble." He took a small step forward and dropped his voice to a near breath. "I'm aware of your unusual activities, Doctor. I tend to stay out of other people's ways, if they stay out of mine."

Without giving Xellien a chance to respond, he turned around and walked away, his hair tail waving tauntingly back at them. Renton opened his mouth to speak, but Xellien bumped him with his foot, and decided it would be best to wait.

"I can't believe it," Renton said as they sat in the medium sized personel quarters. The officers had literally blind folded them and escorted them directly to their room without further word. They mentioned meal schedules and locked the door behind them.

It was equipped with the essentials, such as four beds, two small desks, and several drawers. But it left him feeling quite trapped and claustiphic. He was used to having room, which is why his personal quarters on the Gekko-Go had never been equipped with a bed. It made the small room feel more open, even when Holland had offered to buy one for him.

"It's De-," he started before Xellien bumped his foot again. He lifted his finger as if to itch it's nose, but made the slightest sign to keep silent with his index finger before looking forward. Renton then understood why. He scanned the room with his eyes and saw black shiny box at the top corner, a camera.

"Well, this reminds me of another time in the war," Xellien said as he stood and stretched his arms. "We were on our way to rendezvous with another ship when we were jumped by pirates. We nearly made it out with our lives. Here we'll be okay."

His tone was unusual, more like a poorly acted soap opera than his usual curt tone and accent.

"Okay?" was the only thing Renton could think to say.

The other sighed and pulled something out of his pocket. "Your know Officer Gerald. It's going to be a long trip. You should get some rest."

It wasn't a matter of just of his behavior to be unusual, it always was, but right now he seemed to be a high. But the look in Xellien's eyes told him to turn over and lie down. It occurred to him that Xellien had a plan of some sort and it somehow involved him going to sleep.

"Don't worry about getting up. I'll wake you when dinner comes," Xellien said and then went silent. He heard some strange clicking sounds and small pop. He was tempted to look around, but decided to keep himself lying down, facing the wall. He could hear Xellien doing the same on the bed bunk above him. "There we go. That should do it."

"Can we talk now?"

"Yes, we can. It's a little device I conjured when I first arrived. I figured I would need a moment just to myself, so it release a super sonic hum that mimics the whitesound of an empty room while simultaneously blocking out all other sounds."

Renton thought about it for a second, but didn't really understand. "I don't hear it though."

"Well of course not," the other said cheerfully, "it's on a frequency neither of our ears can pick up."

"And you sure it works?" The last thing they needed was their positions exposed.

Xellien sighed with boredom, "So, I'm guessing you're wondering about Dewey Novak, aren't you?"

"Actually," Renton said, the image of the man playing through his head again. He'd only seen the man once, but his face played across TV screens all over the world. His is a hard voice to forget, especially considering the times, "yes."

Xellien shifted in his bed above him. "Well, it is that time, isn't it? When it all began, or when most of it ended. The summer of love."

"We're close to it?" Renton said. He was just a kid when his father had disappeared, around the age of four, which put their time twelve years back. "Then what is Dewey doing here?"

"Doing as he usually does. Get his hands in anywhere they don't belong, all for a purpose, of course. This war, at least the magnitude of it, was his fault."

Renton tried to process that one, but his lack of historical knowledge made it difficult to remember what his teachers had said. As a matter of fact, he had never heard Dewey Novak in relations to the war, only his father and a few other military officers, never Dewey Novak.

"Naturally he did a lot of things under the table, even to changing his name," he said, responding to his unspoken thought. "His strategic and manipulative military skills made for a dangerous combination to his prior connections to the royal families. Yes, certainly he may have been, for a time, the proverbial scum of their society. But, with the right words of flattery and certain _business_ opportunities, they were on his side."

"But I don't understand-,"

"Naturally," the other but in quickly.

He decided to ignore that one. "Did he sign a contract? Or ask for the war?"

"Don't be so naïve, Renton. The royals are a business heavy people. They don't keep their wealth on status and titles. The Voderak homeland is wedged between two very crucial nations, both of which would benefit from certain trade routes that don't exist in this time."

"So this whole thing started from a trade route?"

"Hardly," the other scoffed, sounding as though he muffled a hard laugh. "War is profit for the right people, and the Royals were those right people. They gave him the funding to gain recognition he needed to climb to more influential positions in the military. And start his radical ideas against the Voderak homeland. Eventually, the royal nation began putting hard economic pressure on the Voderak, and the radical Voderak reacted more quickly." His voice got wispy. "And just like that, with one shuttle attacking briefly stealing a supply from a trade ship, Novak had all he needed. He used the media to blow the incident out of proportion, and they got their control. Tge war against the Voderak started much with the same propaganda used against the Coralians nearly two decades later. "

"And what about the Voderak? What was Dewey's intentions there? If the war was to put pressure on the Voderak, then they had something he wanted. He raced through his memories in Ciudades del Cielo and his many conversations with Holland, but nothing came to mind. That is until, he remembered Norbu.

"He wanted to stop us," Renton said, answering his own question.

"Precisely. The Voderak were the closes to forming a relationship with the Scub Coral, they knew about the "companions", although they didn't entirely understand their function."

The vision of the destruction in the holy city flashed through his mind. Hundreds of thousands of people dead, tens of thousands of homes destroyed, and eventually, an entire race banished from its home. Dewey was either completely mad, or he honestly believed what he did was right, in some dark obscure way. Better chance would be that it was both, which would just make him insane.

"So he began climbing through the military, he gained too much control, and when the Sages caught wind of what his real intentions were, they threw him in a place where he wouldn't get out of control. The accusations made against him were just that, accusations. Evidence was generated, lies placed, and he was kept quiet in a little prison tucked away in the capitol."

"Just like that, huh?" He could imagine Xellien nodding with that strange smile of his. "So, then what is he doing here?"

Xellien hopped down from the bed suddenly. He walked over to the door and put his head against it, as if listening for something. Strange as it was, Renton could tell he was intentionally ignoring his question.

"Xellien, what is he doing here?"

Xellien glanced at him, but his eyes showed that we wasn't going to say another word. For whatever reason, it was _best_ he didn't know. It didn't matter, eventually he would find out.

"It's about time, I think."

"Time til-," the whole room shook. The lamp light quickly grew bright and then burst, sending their room into darkness. Renton instantly knew it was a power surge, one caused by either a hard collision or a loud explosion. He was guessing a latter.

"What's going on?" Renton said as he fumbled his way through the darkness.

"Everything is going exactly as I thought it might. Thanks to my _gift_, I perceived all of this."

Another explosion shook the room, this time somewhere from much higher up in the ship. Judging from the sounds, he could tell now that they were under attack.

"We need to get out as quickly as possible," Xellien said from far behind him. "Before we leave the room, you must make me a promise."

It was an odd request, but considering the situation, he didn't think to mention that. "What?"

"Whatever you might see or hear you must follow me and nothing else. Do you promise?"

Renton rolled his eyes, glad that Xellien couldn't see. "Sure."

"Do you promise?" his said more sharply this time.

The sharpness jolted him. "Yes."

"Good. We have to go. The heat of the battle is starting." When the door opened, the vision of chaos pilled through. Soldiers charged down the halls, guns ready at their sides. Those wearing engineer outfits shouted into their communicators ongoing orders and medics ran along frantically. The whole ship was in a twist.

"This is it. Stay close."

They pushed and shoved their way through the ongoing crowds of personnel. Although the crowd made it hard to keep track of anything, Xellien's height made it easy to keep track of him and keep with him. His head towered over the other like a harmless beast.

The entire hall shook, sending Renton off his feet and slamming into the wall. It knocked the breath out of him and he struggled to get it back. Looking down the hall, his eyes filled with terror. No more than a few meters away, a large gaping hole had formed to the outside. Several soldiers dangled from the edges, but the twisted metal and wiring tugged at their clothes like teeth through the flesh.

He wanted to help, but these people were the enemy, and he couldn't risk getting too involved. He turned around and started to leave.

"Help!" The voice stopped him. It was oddly familiar, and he froze to look back.

A woman struggled to keep herself up from the hole, red hair, and a lot younger than he remember.

"Mischa?" His lips gaped in disbelief. "It can't be."


	3. Chapter 15: Nostalgia

She began slipping from hole. Renton's body became automatic, throwing him forward into a dash, falling to his knees, and sliding just in time to catch her slipping hand. Her eyes shot up at him, twinkling with small tears. "Thank you," she said.

He summoned as much strength as he could to pulled her up and out of the hole, arms shaking. Looking back around, the rest had either fallen or had made their way out. Thank goodness he decided to look back. Mischa would have been amongst the former.

"Thank you so much," she gasped again, trying to find her breath and wiping the tears from her eyes. "I- I couldn't hold. The pressure is so much stronger down there. It nearly sucked me through. If you hadn't come, I wouldn't have made it."

"You're welcome," was all Renton could think to say. He knew he had to be careful with his words, but being around Mischa made him feel like things were normal again, despite the cataclysmic atmosphere.

"What's your name?"

"Ren-," he nearly bit his tongue from shutting his mouth. "Gerald."

"Gerald?" she said with a slight twitch of her right brow. "I don't remember that name in the medical records given me." She gave him a once over, but he wasn't sure if it was one of suspicion of curiosity. "You look unhurt."

He breathed a deep sigh, it looks like she felt neither. "I'm fine actually, going too," he said, trying to avoid eye contact with her while remaining unsuspicious at the same time. An impossible combination, but his time at school, with Grandpa Axel, or onboard gekko-go ever prepared him for time travel.

He looked down the hall for Xellien and froze. He was gone. No gangly tall fellows were seen in the now empty hall. A shiver ran down his back, a ghostly image of himself stranded in the middle of a war torn past.

"Are you sure you're alright? Where are you heading?" Mischa said.

Xellien only told him to follow him, he never said to where. But if he had to guess, it must have been the hanger. The professor had mentioned several times the importance of the equipment aboard. If they were leaving, he doubt it would be without it. But with Xellien, he could never tell. "Probably the Hanger."

"Probably?" Mischa raised a brow.

"That's what I would guess," he said, scratching his head. He wasn't familiar with the ship.

"Well, that's where I am headed as well. Hurry, we'll want to get off the lower level, less we have something like that happen again," she said.. " As well, I need to get to my equipment as soon as possible. We're about to run a test."

She may have been younger, but it was the same old Mischa, hardly spooked by a near death situation. More importantly that nearly falling five thousand feet was probably data to be recorded from her vitals. Not that he worried too much about it, he did wonder what kind of test they would run in chaos like this.

The sound of thunder shook Eureka from her misty dreams. Her eyes shot open as her room shook, nearly sending her out of her bed. The window flashed a bright light and the room shook again, or more as if the entire ship itself shook. She gripped the shelf and quickly lifted herself to the upper window where she could see outside and found out what had awoken her.

Outside flames and fire darted around like fish under water. Several hundred UF ships were bearing down on another fleet of ships just as large, all Voderak. The Voderak ships weren't nearly dealing out as much fire power, but their hulls were as strong as their other impressive structures,and more importantly, stronger than the U.F. ships..

Her finger twitched as her battle senses kicked in and a flood of very distant memories began pouring back, some of the earliest ones. It was a time when little made sense and she felt dependent on anything and everything that she could get close too. Tonight was the night that changed everything not only in the world, but her own life.

"Eureka?" Shara called from the doorway. She somehow hadn't heard the door open.

"Are we here?" she asked, somehow hoping the answer was no, that it would be another battle, anyone but this one.

"Gingrich, and it's getting hot, fast. The Voderak are making a push towards one of the major manufacturing plants, and our forces are barely holding them off."

"Where's Stiller?" Through the doorway she could see the other room opposite to her room open.

Shara shifted uneasily to her other leg, "he's already been called out. His rest period won't end for quite a while now, probably a few hours."

Eureka looked back at the window. "And what do we do?"

"Wait."

She felt a tight satisfaction in her chest. "Now you understand how I felt," she said coolly, resisting the desire to look back at her.

There was a long pause of silence that quickly robbed her of that satisfaction. She slowly turned back to see two sparkling streams running down her cheeks. Her form was strong, face emotionless, but the tears overflowed. "Eureka, you think you got it hard. At least you have the satisfaction of not knowing what's going to happen." Her arms fell to her sides lifelessly and then left the room.

She felt like an idiot, like she had been this whole time. After all that they had gone through together, she never could match up to Renton's level of caring for other people. With the children it was easy, but with people like Shara, she didn't know how to act. Something in her chest burned and told her the other deserved it for having disregarded Renton so lightly. But the tear left a sick feeling in her stomach.

A light sting ran across her eyes as tear began leaking the way down her cheek. "Renton." She said and crouched down and wrapped her arms around her knees and closed her eyes. It was late at night, but she was sure if she squeezed her arms tight enough, she might block out most of the explosions and world around her. It would be easier to just forget about all of this and wait till it was over.

Renton would understand. If he were here, he wrap an arm around her and tell her that it was okay. But he's not here, so what could she do? She was worthless.

"No!" she felt the thought rush through her like a static shot. It pushed her to her feet and she clenched her fist. "No, I'm not going to be weak. Not this time." Her glared at the window. The time for waiting was over. Shara could wait, but for Eureka, that wouldn't be good enough.

The wind rushed around the cockpit wildly, which only made it that much more confusing alongside the large burst and the occasional spray of bullets. For Stiller, it wasn't that big a of distraction. It took a lot for him to get distracted. So long as he had a target and his controls were working properly, which they were, then he'd be fine.

A picture of Shara was taped just above the altitude indicator. It reminded him to always keep things level and get out of hand like he used to. Over eccentric heroics was an old fad of his, and what was what got him on the flag ship of the UFF. But despite the fame and prestige, nothing outmatched the smile of his sweetheart.

He knew it was cheesy, but he stopped caring a long time ago, if he ever cared.

He grabbed the wheel, sending his modified fighter into a hard spin. Three missiles skitted pass his wing and flared off somewhere behind him. Things like that used to terrify him, now it was all instinct. Fortunately for his survival rate statistics, Voderac tracking technologies were not nearly as impressive as the U.F.'s

His eyes locked on three fighters chasing another. Bringing up his nose, he went into a climb, trying to match their altitude. Scratching their level, he maxed out the engines until he was right on their tails. Neither one of them seemed to have noticed.

"And where have you been, huh?" his speaker crackled with the voice of a woman.

"You know," he said casually as his computer got a lock on the two fighters. If they hadn't noticed him yet, they would in just a second. "looking for something to do."

He settled his thumbs into the crevice of his wheel and clicked. Two missiles shot away from his wings leaving a spray if gas. The two made an admirable dive and twist, trying to escape the projectiles, but it was futile. Less than five second letter, Stiller was flying past their smoky remains.

"How you doing, Sister?" he said cheerfully and bringing his fighter alongside hers.

"Stop doing that, bro. I hate it when you do that," she said as her plane steadily widened the gap between them.

"You know, I'm impressed. You manage to get two on you this time instead of the usual five. Biting more than you could chew?"

"Shut up and fly, bro, we got a job to do. How much longer till your shift is over? Oh," she said, and he could hear her jamming the wheel forward, charging towards a set fighters passing towards their right. He took a brief narrow glance at the swarm, and decided it wasn't worth his time.

"About thirty more minutes."

"Tired yet?"

"Please," he laughed and looked around the battle going on around them. Below them the warships fought heavily one with another, pounding lead and steel together about as good as a blender would to sugar and flour. The majority of the planes fought above, trying to stay out from the cross fire and massive storm of laser and lead. However, he could see just a few brave, if not crazy, or just stupid, handful of jets weaving in and out between them, narrowly squeezing through the line of fire. Perhaps a year or two ago, he would have been there too. Not now. Not that he had another life waiting for him back at the hanger.

"Hey Stick," the sound was caught off in a muffled crack of the speaker. The use of his family's nick name shook him from his thoughts and pushed his eyes out to where his sister had been. The family only ever used it when they really needed him. His eyes danced between the thousands of fighter jets, searching for the markings of her sister's.

"Relax, Stiller," another voice came, cool and clear through his speakers, or was it his speakers? "I have it all under control. Your sister will be safe."

"Who is that?" He looked down at his speakers and noticed for the first time that they were no longer on. Something wasn't quite right.

"I'm the contact that Shara mentioned."

"Xellien?"

"Yes, precisely. I need you to pay close attention to what I'm about to tell you. Do exactly as I say, and all will be well."

He didn't like the sound of it, but he didn't have much choice based off what Shea has told him. He thumbed the controls for his radio, but they had somehow been shut off. Closing his eyes, he tried to see what instinct had to say, but felt nothing. After a moment's hesitation, he responded to wherever this voice was coming from, probably some hidden speaker. "Alright, I'm in chum. Where do I shoot?"

"What's your age?" Mischa asked yet another somewhat personal question.

"Seventeen," he said before he could catch himself. He wasn't actually sure how old this body was.

"You look younger than your age," she said, "but not all of us have that gift, now do we?"

He thought back to Mischa, or rather forward to twelve years from now. He wasn't sure what her age was, but she seemed to look well for it. "You never know, I guess." He looked off to the side, hoping his answers seemed innocent enough.

"We're here." She pointed to a door coming up. He thought he was never so happy to see a door in his life. At the site of it, he picked up his speed.

"Good!"

They entered inside and started making their way down the steps. "Well child, I must say that your assistance has been very appreciated. The testing area is this way, follow me."

Renton paused, "what?"

"No one else is allowed down here except for a few authorized personnel," she frowned at him, the first look of suspicion beginning to tug her eyelashes down. "It's the only reason you should be here is to assist the test. That is your reason, isn't it?"

"I uh," he felt the sweat beginning to form at his brows and crawl its way up his forehead. "Yes, but I forgot my security card," he shrugged instantly. He wished he could punch himself

She shrugged, "no worries, I'll vouch for you. Missing an operation this important will demote you several ranks, for sure. You covered my back, I'll return the favor. Come with me, quickly," she grabbed his elbow and began pulling him along.

He didn't remember her being this assertive on the Gekko-Go, not that he didn't appreciate the help. He looked around the room, even thought to make a run for it, but that would only cause more trouble. No, he was committed.

"Sorry Xellien," he barely muttered under his breath.

They came up on two guards. The right one held up his hand and Mischa flashed him her security card.

"You?" The officer said, looking at Renton.

"I'll vouch for him. The rank on my card allows that."

The officer glanced at Mischa and then at Renton before stepping aside. "Whatever. My shift end in thirty minutes."

Mischa gave him a stern glare before leading Renton and herself inside. He was surprised to find that the small door led to another portion of the hanger, heavily modified. It was then that the noticed that the wall they just passed through was installed outside of the ships original design, which explained why it appeared so small.

Looking forward he saw six very large crates, nearly buildings in size, arrayed next to one another. He could see men standing over them and entering in and out. He nearly asked Mischa what they were, but now he was getting pretty good and keeping his mouth shut.

"Good, you're here." Renton looked up at the man who talked and every muscle in Renton's body tighten. His mind raced as he saw the man, grizzly in shape, hairy arms and a thick mustache, smiled down at both of them. Adrock Thurston. His own father "Young talent ought to arrive on time, Mischa."

"I apologize, Professor Adrock. I had a slight hang up," she looked at Renton, "quite literally."

"And who's this?"

"My savior, this time around. If it weren't for him, I would be 5000 feet down on ground level."

Adrock gave a small laugh, "that sounds like a great story after work hours."

Msicha returned his laugh, "indeed." For the first time, Mischa split off and went to a small console.

All Renton could do was look up at his father, frozen in place. Did he even know? Could he even tell that his son was standing just a few feet away from him.

"Are you alright?" Adrock said, frowning down at him. "You seem sickly."

"Yeah," he said, not sure to which part of that sentence he was responding too.

In just a few minutes, they already had Renton, or Gerald as they called him, doing menial tasks such as moving a desk, moving equipment, or other nonsense like that. As he did all this, he constantly found himself looking back at his Father. It was true that he felt a lot of closure from their encounter in the Scub Coral, but seeing him this close at this time recalled those distant feelings from his past, the longing to know more. He resisted the feeling, it was too dangerous for him and probably everyone else in the future.

"Blasted thing," Adrock brushed his hair back.

"Having problems, professor?" Mischa asked from her small desk. She seemed to be setting up some kind of medical station. Screen blinked flat lines for heart rates amongst dozens of other meters of some kind. He wondered what in the world they were planning on reading.

"You know, it's a horrible day for this not to be working," he let out a hard laugh that reminded Renton someone else he knew, just a grizzly and hairy.

"Charles," he whispered quietly. But not quite them same. More calm and in control, intelligent and strong. Something like the perfect mixture of Charles and Holland. A man full of confidence and beaming a natural fatherless that Renton had longed for so long ago. Seeing as a human like this brought back a little of that longing.

"I'd have a look if it would make a difference," Mischa replied.

Renton finished setting another crate down and took a glance at the machine. He walked by it on his way to grab another crate, but caught something off and instantly recognized what it was. "Oh," he said.

Adrock glanced down from his standpoint at Renton. "Notice something, boy?"

"Uh," he said, unable to take his eyes from the mechanical problem that lay before him. "You should try readjusting the calibrator and fluctuators. Also, it seems like," he squinted, unable to make out something else seemed wrong. He turned away from the crate and climbed up the box and knelt down next to it.

There were several things wrong about the machine, extremely naïve mistakes from every end. But in this time period, this kind of technology would be quite new and even primitive in some respect. Right now, Renton, unbeknownst to anyone else in the room, was the world's expert on this kind of technology . He reached down and began making adjustments.

"This isn't necessary," he said, taking out a small adjustment module that he recognized from old blueprints. "And this isn't quite right, I'll adjust it here and put these here. And," he said, his eyes searching the machine.

It was a compact adaptor unit for a Exo-Skeleton archetype, and by the looks of it, an LFO. But in this time, LFO's didn't exist yet quite yet. Not for more than one. Anyway.

His stomach froze. The Nirvash.

A light bulb clicked on in his head. His eyes darted to the six crates and then back to the Compact adapter unit. Those weren't crates, he realized, they were LFO's.

"You know, boy," Adrock said, kneeling down.

The technical challenge and realization was strong enough to make him forget that his own dead father was standing next to him.

"Your understanding of a technology that I just finished inventing yesterday is quite high," he said with a smile that made Renton feel uncomfortable. He felt like he was going to go throw up. Actually, he would, and turned around and threw up over the edge of the pad and onto the floor.

"That was an unexpected reaction," Adrock commented, patting him on the back. "Mischa, come here. My assistant needs help. It appears that the nerves are getting to him."

"Assistant?" Renton said, looking back at his Father, who only gave him the faintest wink.

"Ah, so that explains him. Another guinea project of yours?" Mischa said as she stepped up and put the back of her hand against his forehead and began checking other side of his body.

"Took him on recently. He showed a gift for these kinds of things," Adrock said, the faintest sparkle in his eye.

"Could we have this cleaned up, please? We're starting in two minutes," Mischa said tiredly. Several officers came up with cleaning supplies, almost as if expecting this to happen. It probably wasn't the first time. He could feel the nerves steaming from everyone, and now he knew why.

"And please help this boy to the chair next to my desk and get him some water. Quickly." Mischa said.

"I have it, Mischa," Adrock said, waving one off one of the standby medics.

Adrock put in arm under his armpit and helped him sit down in a chair. A few moments later, the previous medic came with a glass of water and handed it to him.

"Drink slowly," she said, nodding politely.

** "**Thank you Ash," he said in such a way that signaled for her to leave quickly.

Renton sipped at his water, looking forward at the crates and compact unit. He could feel his father's eyes staring at him. He didn't know what to say, or even evento think. His father knew something was up, but instead of exposing Renton, he instead defended him. Why? And how would it affect the future?

"Thank you by the way," Adrock said, finally turning his eyes to the scene.

"Thank you," Renton said back.

Adrock raised an eyebrow at him, "for what?" he said, but they both knew the answer. Adrock just wanted him to admit it. He couldn't just say for not blowing his cover or revealing what he just did. Not that he understood any of it. His intense attention in Renton was probably driven more by a heavy curiosity than anything in who in the world would understand so much of his own inventions.

It probably wasn't something he should ask, but, "Why did you do it?"

"What? Nominate you as my assistant?" he said and pointed a hand at his machine, "did you see what you just did there? That's more than talent, boy, that's genius."

Renton let out a nervous laugh, not quite as hearty. He searched his Father's eyes for what he was getting at or why he was doing it, but the other seemed to be playing with him more than getting to the point.

"The truth is, I have a few questions for you, admittedly. But, I'm not so concerned on where you came from, if that's what you're worried about."

"What do you mean you're not concerned?" Renton asked, looking up at his father.

His father smiled and shrugged. "A feeling, that's all. We'll talk after. Just stay close and I'll keep you out of trouble. In the meantime, feel free to help me fix anything else I apparently don't understand." He stood up and gave Renton a soft, but sturdy pat on the back. "We should get to work, don't you think?"

He wasn't sure why, but when he patted his back, he felt a warm feeling wash over him and fill his stomach. Tears began forming at the edges of his eyes. Adrock frowned and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright. Feeling sick?"

"No, I'm fine," he said quickly, wiping away a tear and standing up quickly. "Better than fine," he added quickly while wiping his eyes. Although every fiber in his being wanted to say it, he had to keep it down. But he couldn't help but ask himself if that's what it feels like. Is that how a father pats their son on the back? Is this how a Father talks to their son? They were complete strangers, but the way he treated him felt too _right_. It felt too natural and real. It was real, it was really happening.

Adrock frowned at him a second, and then smiled. "You're a good kid. A little strange, but good. Come help me with this. I think you'll find these very interesting," he said, pointing at the crates. "I'd tell you what's inside, but I wouldn't believe it myself.* Renton wouldn't bet him on that one. He already knew what to expect. Well, at least he almost knew what to expect. The constant jabs of awe were starting to wear off on him, but he hardly expected to see such a familiar friend.

Sitting beneath the crate and dimly lit by hanging lights was the Nirvash itself. It's frame glossy and young, ten years younger than when he saw it for the first time itself. He wondered how long it had been since it had been unearthed.

"Wait," he said, thinking allowed as a memory triggered inside of him. If the Nirvash is here, then that would mean-.

"He's happy," a child's voice came from behind them. Adrock turned around and a huge grin spread on his face.

"Is he now?" he said.

Renton slowly turned around, unable to believe what he saw before him. Eureka stood, a head or two shorter than himself. It was strange staring at a child in comparison to every other image that came to his mind of her. But she looked much older than he expected, by several years in fact. At this time Renton must be barely a babe, but here she could pass for ten or twelve.

"She's the star of the show," Adrock said, "and speaking of show, we need to get this one started.

Adrock passed her and left for the outside, but she and Renton stayed motionless. Her eyes didn't move from him, but merely stayed stable.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Gerald."

She continued staring at him, the silence starting to become awkward. "He says that's not your name."

"He?" he said, frowning, and then it clicked. "Oh, you're referring to Nirvash?" His brows tightened together. Nivash couldn't possibly recognize them, they didn't even know eachother. And Renton always thought Nirvash was a she. He actually didn't know if LFO's had genders.

"He also says I can trust you."

Renton stifled a laugh. This really brought back memories, all of it. "Well, I trust her- erm… him too," he said, patting Nirvash in the side. It wasn't quite there yet, but this friend would carry him and Eureka through all kinds of trials and adversities that would come. It would take them to the promised land and eventually it would help him save Eureka and unite them again. Time and time again, Nirvash would bring them together. The memories were warm before him.

"Something's wrong," Eureka said quickly rushed to climb up the Nirvash, but because of her small size, she was unable.

"What is it?"

"Something is wrong!" she repeated, more loudly, but seemed too unwilling or inexperienced to be able to say what. But from past experiences, or future ones, he knew not to doubt her when she said something was wrong.

"Do you see it?" the voice wisped through the air around Stiller. At any chance he got he looked for the speaker, but couldn't find it. It may have been installed inside of his helmet, but taking it off was too risky in a battle like this.

"Not yet," he said, looking amongst all of the carriers, frigates, and cruisers lancing each other with metal and fire. Then he saw one ship off to the side without markings. "Wait," he said, squinting and bringing his ship a little lower. The onboard camera's automatically tracked his line of sight and magnified the image. It was a large ship, heavily barraged with several large blast holes covering the top and bottom, but still flying.

"What do you see?"

"A ship without markings," he responded, "it's heavily damaged, but still flying. Strange," he searched the ship, "I don't see it resisting much towards the other ships."

"It can't be trusted. Do as I say, and the life debt to your Wife will be forgiven."

"You promise? And we both can leave the military? You'll clear her tracks?"

"All is guaranteed. It's but one comm. click away."

He wish he would make that comm. click anyway and just forget about what it was he was about to do. He brought the fighter forward and then dropped into the air field of the carriers. He immediately realized that was a mistake.

Fireballs and falling scraps rained around him in a chaotic swarm. He narrowly dodged a falling cruiser and then brought his fighter over the arc of several missiles. He felt like a fly dodging a swatter, or several thousand swatters that have no idea where they're aiming but it still feels like it's all at him.

"I'm losing my touch," he said through gritted teeth and brought his ship into a mad nose dive, narrowly missing a massive broken wing. He came about and was now facing the back end of the unmarked ship.

"Do you see the hangers?" The voice came.

"Yes, I see all four of them."

"Target the third, and aim slightly to the left. I'm trusting your skills, ability, and overall dumb luck to make this one."

He would have taken it as an insult, but dumb luck seemed to be one of his many talents. "It got me this far," he said and took aim. For a second he thought about it, wondering if it was the right thing to do. The ship was scarcely fighting back, both sides were laying heavy fire on it, and it made no distress call. It was hard to make out why he was doing this, or even if it was wrong or right. In a war, it's too hard to tell.

"Shara, I hope you know what _I'm_ doing," he whispered. Glancing at the picture of Shara, his Altitude Indicator wobbling slightly, he put all of his attention on the hangers ahead of them and made ready to fire.

"Wait!" A voice cut through his concentration and his hands loosened the grip. The hanger was coming up fast.

"What?" He retorted in irritation.

"Don't," the voice seemed highly strained and warped, unlike a speaker, but as though the voice were really there. "Sti-!" The voice seemed familiar, but it was too faint to tell.

"Fire, Stiller, fire now!" Stiller hesitated a moment, looking at the hanger and wondering to which voice he should listen, or was it the same voice? He didn't have a choice.

He pulled the trigger, and the lowered the missiles from their wings.

"Stick, DON'T!" The voice shot through his mind loud and clear. His sister's. His hand moved as quickly as his mind could command and pulled back on the wheel, but it was too late. The missiles spat from his wings and charged toward the ship. The change of angle would barely change their target, but it might not be enough. He prayed it would, for whatever reason it is, miss.


	4. Interlude I: The Ongoing Search

**Interlude I**

**The Ongoing Search**

Artisen trotted his way down the aisle between two cafeteria benches. UF soldier lined him on either side, their voice a storming yaps, pops, and clatters of conversation and dinnerware. The noise kept to itself, easily tuned out by a trained ear. His focus danced between the dozens of conversations, shooting between a group of young cadets and then to a senior pair of officers covering this morning roll call. His attention flickered to the other side to a group of three women talking about an obsessive commander and his wandering eyes towards the young females in the class.

He continued to do that, picking up a detail here or there. Sometimes the best place to pick up information was at a cafeteria of the enemy. People sometimes spoke too freely when their mouths were stuffed with food. He never wondered why, but the little tidbits he gathered gave him enough raw information to fit into almost any base on any side of enemy lines.

He stopped, his attention drawn to one open seat just a few feet in front of him. He swung one leg forward, twisted around, and fell right into the open space, his plate landing without even a tap.

A woman sat in front of him, her dinner plate untouched and her small tablet device covered in smudges and faint fingerprints. Her eyes were a forest green, so soft and alive he could almost hear the leaves clattering from a gentle breeze.

"Hey Nina!" he said excitedly and then chomped down into his garlic bread. He wasn't much for this kind of food, too pacific coast for him. Those people had no taste in bread.

The woman's head jerked up and her hand twitched towards her waist where her gun rested. Her eyes grew wide. "What are you doing here?" she said quietly. Her eyes darted to the soldiers and officers around her. They didn't seem to notice.

"What do you mean? I work here," he said through a mouth full of bread. He realized he forgot to get a glass of water. Who forgets that kind of stuff? He did apparently.

"Work here? Don't be ridiculous. I'm going to report you."

"That's rude," he said, swallowing and studying the other items on his plate. Spaghetti, something green, and something white and chunky. His appetite didn't feel so brave today. "I wouldn't interrupt you while working."

"You're _not_ working."

"Sure I am. Studying all kind of information. Speaking of which, I need your opinion on something. Do you mind?" He reached into his jacket and threw out couple of photos from his inner pocket. They slid over and stopped at her hands. A tingle of satisfaction poked his stomach at both her bewilderment and surprise. She was experienced and well trained, but just like all spies, she suffered a great disease. Curiosity. It often got most of them killed, keeping the average lifespan of any one of them short and painful. Sometimes when used correctly, it kept them alive. In this case, Artisen would live. Nina's curiosity, despite her training, would get the best of her. She wouldn't turn him in, not yet.

She looked up from the photos. "Where did you get these?"

"In some documents I pulled out from your base in our last meeting."

"And what do you want me to do about it?" she said, shoving the photos back to him a little too quickly. He glanced at her fingers. They had a stiffness to them as though trying to hide the shakiness inside.

"Help me find out what it is. Is it UF?"

"I'm not going to help you."

"Is the UF assembling a new massive army?"

She began to stand up and turn around. He was losing her fast.

"I think these are tied to the strange Trapar storms occurring off the remaining upper crust."

She stopped and hesitated. Artisen held his breath, waiting to see what she would do. His hand gently rested on the radio inside his pocket. They might be out of time.

She turned back around. "Why?"

"Sit down and I'll tell you," he said quietly. "And could you please talk like we're friends. Your negative tone will draw attention."

Her elegant form waved above him one moment, and then she sat back down. She ran her fingers through her hair, most likely a nervous reflex of some kind. "They're not UF."

Artisen nodded, "I didn't think so." He picked up the photos and studied them again. Hundreds of strange KLF's lined up inside of an underground cave. The walls surrounding them seemed porous and hollow, non-earthly origin. That only left the upper world, hidden somewhere in dead, dried out corallian hole. A base hidden in dead corallian caves.

"Tell me what you know about the trapar storms."

"For one, they're just plane weird. They shouldn't be happening." Most trapar storms discontinued after the corrallian's left, almost everything trapar related stopped. The waves seemed calmer. Certain reffing locations became dormant and dull. Then suddenly, only two months ago, the storms acted up wildly.

"Yes, but what do these armies have to do with the storm?"

"We have an expert aboard our ship."

"Irik, son of the infamous Xellien, inventor of the Inverse Drive," she said, nodding.

"Yup, the very one. Only his father understood the waves better. We've been studying the storms and we've patterns in the electromagnetic field that match those of an Inverse Drive.

She frowned. "Impossible."

"No, we're certain of it."

She shook her head gently, "No, you don't understand, if someone else is replicating inverse technology, then we have a serious problem. A very serious problem."

Artisen felt himself stiffen slightly. Something in the way she looked at him made him uneasy. She ran her finger through her hair again, and then it clicked.

"You know who these people are."

Her eyes flicked down uneasily, and then she nodded, a barely noticeable action.

"We think we know what they're doing," Aritsen said, his voice soft.

Her eyes narrowed on him, "what?"

The radio on him cracked, barley. He broke a smile, "well, times up!" He leapt to his feet, pulled out his gun, pointed at the ceiling and then fired. "Ladies and gentlemen, I need your attention!"

Like a wave of rolling ocean, the entire cafeteria turned towards him at the same time. Very unlike an ocean, they became very quiet.

"Haha, didn't really expect this kind of attention. I get a little stage fright," he chuckled softly. The sea of scrunched faces, confused looks, and scowls stared right back at him. "You UF types aren't really the joking types, are you."

"Artisen, what in Coralians name are you doing?" Nina whispered wildly behind him.

"Do you have the time?" he asked, turning back to her. A rustle of movement came from the other side of the cafeteria. Out of the corner of his eyes, both left and right, he saw a group of soldiers charging towards him, looking to end whatever squabbling would take place. Well, they were in for a surprise.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I just need the time."

"Why do you need the time?"

"Nina, just give me the time!"

"It's 11:48!"

"Oh perfect!" he said delightfully and then turned back to the crowd, "EVERYONE DUCK!"

In that instant, the entire room rumbled, throwing people off their chairs and sending feet splattering across the floor. Artisen grabbed Nina by the arm and pulled her up, in the mass of confusion, she didn't fight him.

The ceiling above cracked and boomed like a thunderclap. Another clap shook the room and the alarms sounded. A third split the ceiling in half and a massive, white mechanical hand dove from the ceiling and landed right in front of them.

"Nice!" Artisen said. He swung down and picked Nina off her feet and stepped onto the metal hand. Alarms, gunfire, and falling debris filled his ears to the brim, making it impossible to hear any of Nina's comments about his impressive muscle density or public speaking ability. Though the scowl on her face wasn't all that flattering, or the hitting him the chest, that didn't help. But she probably had a reason for it. And she probably did say those things.

The arm lifted them both back through the hole in the ceiling and out into the open air. A blast of bullets sprayed the fingers, nearly tearing her and him to shreds.

"Hey!" Artisen yelled up at the driver. Matthew gave him an innocent shrug.

"Hold tight, kids," he piped through two tones short of a mature voice.

The arms enclosed around them, shielding from other stray bullets, and Artisen just enjoyed the ride, still unable to make a word of Nina.

Nina was mad. She was furious. And she was extremely embarrassed.

The overall goofiness and unexpectedness of the whole situation completely threw off her instincts, and in a moment of wide panic, she let down her guard and forgot her training. She just let Artisen pick her up, literally pick her up, and acted like a little helpless girls. But her training was kicking in, and apparently these weren't the experts she had believed.

She sighed, flustered from the thoughts that just kept cycling back through her mind again and again.

"You don't have to be so pouty," Artisen said from beside her. She suddenly became aware again of her location, aboard the Night Iris speeding off who knows where. They had long since rocketed into space, narrowly escaping five UF cruisers, six cruiser grade ground cannons, and two dozen squadrons of KLF, apparently facing all of that risk to get her on board. Why?

"Seriously though. Stop the pouty face. Here's a sandwhich," he said, sliding a plate over to her on the other side of the counter. She scarcely glanced at it.

"You may with as much detail as requires, explain to me, in the richest detail, why you have brought me here."

Artisen continued making another sandwich. Didn't he hear her?

"Artisen?"

"Just a second," he said, frowning down at the sandwiches. "Sandwiches of this grade require a certain but equal grade of attention."

She nearly jumped over the counter to strangle him, but decided she didn't want to ruin a perfectly good uniform shirt. It was the only with any style.

"So, I brought you here because I've hit a bit of a hiccup. It's hardly a secret. But Eureka is missing.

"Yes, we all know."

"But this is the thing that really twists my ears."

_'Twist my ears?' what does that even mean? _she thought, resisting the tenth sigh since they came into the room.

"The character that disappeared with him. This Eoin Machale. A decorated pilot in the UF force, both for his experience in several key covert operations as well as his excellent and surprisingly natural skills in piloting a KLF. As a matter of fact, he's probably the best in the entire fleet of the UF. Don't ask me how I know," he said, shooting glance at her face.

"He's one of our best kept secrets."

"Oh please," he said, chuckling, "I've cracked cases far harder than his before the second summer of love. He wasn't that hard, especially when you consider another interesting track as to his _origin_," his voice took on a smooth quiet tone as he said that word. Something about it sent a flare of concern through Nina. Did he know?

"But more on that in the next episode. While searching for him I came up across some interesting photos in a secreted file related to his a military base located several clicks from Los Ojos.

She wasn't even going to bother asking how he knew about one of the UF's most prized secret facilities in all of their known territory. The smirk on his face told her she wanted him to ask. She wouldn't give him that pleasure.

"Alright," she said in the finest tone of cut-the-garbage she could manage. "How do you know what they're doing."

"Harvesting the energy of the waves," a voice came from behind her. She turned to find a thin pale faced man standing at the door to the room. He leaned awkwardly to one side, a cane in his hand. He looked like he had just been found on an island after having been stranded there for years. "Let's have this discussion in the meeting room. I'd rather have the screen to use. Artisen."

Artisen nodded, "understood. Let's go."

Nina felt strange sitting in the command room of the Night Iris, as though something about it felt right, old, and renewed. For years she had tried to find ways to find a permanent means of tracking its whereabouts, but never could. Probably because of the man beside her, Artisen. He was a handsome man, smart, and confident. She also liked the way he combed his hair.

She shook her head, feeling a sudden blush of warmth at her cheeks. These last few days weren't her most admirable. She was way off her game.

"Here are the locations of the storms," Irik said from across the table, the pale man from before, son of Xellien.

A holographic image seeped into existence over the table, glowing ominously over them. A map of the earth zipped across and dozens of white circles popped up in the various spots just over the remaining scub coral that covered the earth.

"As you can see, there are many of them," Irik said tiredly. "We believe these are bases of operation."

Nina frowned, "They're just storms."

Isen shook his head and glanced at Artisen. The other nodded respectfully, acknowledging something she couldn't quite pick up on. Trust? Understanding? This crew was unlike anything she had imagined. She almost imagined a group of ruthless, stupid, mercenaries bouncing around causing trouble for the UF military. But they were clean cut, young, and showing an increasing degree of professionalism. She resisted blushing, trying to throw the thought from her mind.

"As we all know, Irik has the top most understanding of Inverse technology. On par with his own father."

"Yes, but what does that have to do with the storms?"

"Slow down, I'm getting to that. He developed a program and ran a simulation of what it would look like if an inverse drive were designed to pull energy from the Trapar. And, well, look." He hit a button.

A three dimensional image appeared before them of a massive field of hills and valley. The clouds above began to swirl together. Bolts of lightning flashed up and down, swirling backwards the other way. The two forces fought together, spinning faster and faster, until the center exploded like a detonated bomb.

The result was a massive grey and white sphere of twisting clouds, a perfect sphere, floating in the air above the ground. Massive. Huge. And…

"Looks familiar, right?"

She nodded. She had seen a few back in her day. A kute class corallian. A shiver ran down her body, nearly shaking her to the core. Entire cities had been wasted and picked off by the strange cluster of creatures.

"Those aren't in the reports. The storms seen by the observatories are nothing more than normal trapar storms."

"We know. That's why we believe these to be artificial," Irik chimed in at last. His voice sounded like it was running through dried leaves. "They're half baked. Incomplete. Someone out there is trying to produce this, which is a form extremely efficient at harvest energy from subatomic space. They would have limited energy, but they haven't achieved it yet. But those half baked storms are the precursors. It's possible with the Inverse Drive, but frankly I don't know how they've gotten this far. It would take tremendous years of research, decades. As well as someone who is very experienced with inverse technology, corallian subspace physics and theory, and, frankly, someone as smart as myself."

She had heard of Irik's unbeaten intelligence, a man truly renowned for brilliance. She didn't doubt a word of it.

The bead like object under her armpit began to vibrate gently.

Back up had arrived.

But their words echoed back from the recesses of her mind. She believed them.

The dark room turned bright red, flushing her eyes with light. She flinched only a moment before swinging back into action. It was a moment's choice. A breath to act. She threw away the feeling at the back of her mind and leapt onto the table, leg swinging. She caught Artisen straight in the chest, sending him flying back on his chair.

"UF Cruiser inbound, repeat, UF cruisers in bound! Someone going to respond? Artisen? Irik?" The speaker boomed, but no reply would come. Nina would make sure.

She jumped to the other side of the table, catching Irik's wrist with her foot and kicking it away. With the help of gravity, she slipped down, wrapped an arm around his neck and reached down his side for a gun.

He smirked. "I'm a scientist."

Sparks flew across her vision as something hard hit the back of her head. She half lunged to the side, trying to gain focus, but her thoughts played like ooz through her mind. The pain arched as she tried to stand up and see Artisen standing above her, huffing violently. His fist flew at her and all went black.

The blackness swirled around her. Sometimes she could hear a voice or a shout.

"We won't surrender…" the voice yelled through the mist.

"…My son… My son…" the voice vibrated, stinging her mind.

Then light.

Her eyes drifted open, the world pouring in around her. She was inside a medical room, a rather crude one albeit equipped with impressive equipment. She glanced to her left to see a man sitting there, staring right back. Grey hair parted to the side, thin-rimmed glasses, and a weary smile. All very cliché.

"There we are," he said, smiling. "How are we feeling?"

Her thoughts ached at trying to remember, but she forced them. She had been in the council room aboard the night Iris. They had been discussing the conspiracy currently being investigated when the alarms went off and the cruisers arrive. Then she remembered.

She flew out from the bed, swinging herself to the left and quickly rising back up and wrapping a choke hold on the older fellow. "What happened, who are you, and what happened to the cruisers?"

"Relax, Nina," a deep voice boomed, "we're at terms."

She glanced up to see a tall, broad shouldered man standing before her with a smile as thin as hair.

"General Machalle," she said with a breath of confusion. "Aren't we…?"

"Aboard the Night Iris? This is correct."

"Oh," she said, suddenly realizing for the first time how much pain she felt.

"Are you able to proceed with duties?"

She nodded, "Yessir."

"Good, because we have much to discuss during the travels. We're investigating the nearest base demonstrating activity."

"Wait, slow down. General, what all happened? I'm not sure I agree with these decisions."

"Your opinion on the matter is irrelevant," he said, flaring his brows tightly. "We've come to terms with the situation. And we need to act. Morrick will fill you in on the details.

Meanwhile, I'll be returning back to my ship. You will remain here with the others."

At that moment, Morrick swung into view, a smile like bent pistol twisted around his face. Nina relaxed slightly.

"Morrick," she said within a sigh.

"Darlin'! I got some story for you!"

For all of his crazy shenanigans and terrifying skills in both martial arts and marksmanship, he was the best man she had ever known. A true soldier dedicated to a great cause.

He proceeded to fill out the details, the plan of attack, and uncovering the great mystery. They would be heading to La Tierra de Agua, an old vodarac city located on the edge of the upper surface. There they would follow the signal underground, unearth it, and find out who was behind the storms.


	5. Chapter 16: Crystal Air

**Chapter 16: Crystal Air**

It wasn't very hard remaining inconspicuous when the entire ship was in chaos. It was even less hard looking concerned as the soldiers around her, but not necessarily about the same thing. Eureka's look over the ship schematics and tapping into the different radio frequencies yielded exactly what she hoped. If Xellien was here as Shara had said, then he would be at the center of what changed this entire conflict. The ship where she first rode into battle with Adrock Thurston.

The memories left a cold chill in her stomach as she thought back to her first battle in the Nirvash. Adrock had been highly against it, but the militarization of LFO's was the long term goal, and the government had too much control to stop him. Now that she was older and less innocent about the evil's of men, he probably stayed on to protect her. No, she knew had done so. If he had stepped down, they would have chosen another scientist slightly less capable but far more willing to take orders.

The thought almost made her shiver again. Had that happened, then the phenomenal burst of trapar that accelerated the war would never have stopped. Adrock would never have been there to stop it and the world would be covered ten times over in the destruction than what had happened. She would never have joined Holland's Gekko State and would still be working for the military destroying everyone. And worst of all, she would have never known the kids and Renton.

Her panicked mood turned slightly dark. It didn't matter right now, the pieces were easy to put together. Xellien most likely wanted aboard that ship, and where Xellien was, so should be Renton. Or at least, a way to find him.

The hanger came into view and she walked inside easily. The gangly man sitting at his small station was too busy yelling into the radio frequencies for incoming and outgoing fighters. It would be risky, but with all the distractions, it shouldn't be too hard to find a ship and make her escape.

"You know," a deep voice said from behind her and she hesitated, "although the ship is filled with all sorts of distractions, doesn't mean you can go about as you like."

She slowly turned around and saw standing in front of her Admiral Collin, the same strange man who had taken Xellien and Renton. She felt the cold sensation of fear swirl up inside her.

"I'm just going to my station, sir," she said coolly, hiding any of the fear she felt from getting to her face. Maybe he didn't recognize her and thought she was just a soldier out of place.

Collin rolled his eyes, "Don't bore me. I know what you're looking for. You may be capable of flying an LFO, but a jet fighter pilot you are not. Going out now to find Renton would only get you killed, quite spectacularly."

She couldn't stop her eyes from going wide, but kept her mouth shut. How had he known?

"Things are a little accelerated. You weren't supposed to know, but Xellien's caught up with me. Unnecessary although interesting details aside, I have just one question for you," he said and clasped his hands behind his back. "There are two ways I execute this plan. One way leaves you alive while the other leaves you dead. Which do you prefer?"

"If you can do it with me dead, why leave me alive at all?" she said slowly, her eyes darting to the door and other possible escape. If she had just enough time, she might be able to make a run for it.

"Don't stall me, I have an associate with a Mak 33 aimed right at your head. The slightest move, and they will fire, no one will know immediately in this chaos, and we'll have plethora of time to discreetly leave the scene. Just stay still."

A Mak 33 would leave a hole in her head with no splash and hardly any sound, if it were equipped with a silencer. If he were bluffing, he certainly didn't chose the first gun that came to mind. With enough time, she might be able to spot the shooter, but there were a hundred hiding places in a hanger, triple that in an active one. She had no choice. She nodded.

"Good. Now follow me. I have a mission for you."

She wish she would have stayed closed to Shara.

The smallish, younger Eureka attempted to jump and climb the Nirvash like a hamster rolling its wheel.

"Eureka," he said and stopped, wondering if it was a good idea to get involved, but she seemed too helpless to leave alone. He walked over and grabbed her hands and pulled her back down. She resisted, but was far to small and weak.

"No, stop it! Let me go. We have to go, now!"

He had never seen her react this way before. Never so dramatically. "Eureka, calm down. Tell me what he's saying"

"Let go!"

Behind him he could hear the drape pulled outside, and taking a look back made him wish he had heard nothing. Dewey Novak and Adrock Thurston stood at the doorway with a few other soldiers just behind them. Looking back at Eureka, he could guess what they were all thinking. Dewey's eyes bounced between him and Eureka, and the look on his face didn't spell good news.

"Shoot him," he commanded.

"What?" Adrock and Renton said simultaneously. The guard raising his gun hesitated.

"Captain Derwin, relax. He's probably just trying to calm her down."

"Yeah, I've not don't anything at all!" he said in his own defense.

"No," Dewey shot back sharply, his voice gritty with suspicion and turned his attention to Adrock. "He came with Dr. James. We both know what that means."

"Ah," Adrock said and then looked back at Renton. The gleam that was in his eyes before dimmed slighty. "I suppose that would explain a few things."

Renton felt his heart sink into his stomach. It might have been partly for the fact that he now had no allies around him whatsoever, but to hear the distrust in his father's voice was harder to bear. It surprised him and stabbed him to the very core.

"Shoot him," Dewey repeated and turned around, not waiting for a response.

"Wait!" Adrock yelled, but it was too late. The guards pushed him aside and the other two raised their guns. The fourth went to pull Eureka out of the way, but as soon as she was free from Renton's grip, she started for the Nirvash again, more frantically.

"Girl, stop it, get down!" the solider yelled, but she seemed not to hear him and kept struggling.

Renton wanted to help, but the guns pointed at him were too big of a distraction. His mind went blank. The way out was blocked, no where to run. If he died in the past, would he wake up in the future? He would find out soon enough. The look in the their flashed with direction, and sensation he could feel more then see as their fingers began to curl around the triggers to end his life. He closed his eyes, cold spikes of terror exploding in his chest.

An explosion filled the entire hanger. The shock sent Renton flying off his feet along with several of the other people around him. When he hit the ground, everything went black and quickly came rushing back. He lifted himself off the ground and surveyed the damage. Wind was whirling around them and sucking back toward the hangar doors. He looked back to see two large holes near the top of the hanger. Whoever had shot the ship, they had just saved his life.

He forced himself to his feet, knees aching from something he apparently hit. Most of the people around him were out cold, except for a few doctors and medics. Looking back at the crate, he could see most of the drapes had been blasted off their boxes, revealing several LFO's. His mind clicked instantly.

He rushed towards the Nirvash which was now several meters away. If the blast had hit him so hard, then it could only mean worse for someone much smaller. "Eureka!" He yelled. But no response came. When he made it to the Nirvash, he pulled and tugged the drapes until he found a small limp body on the floor. His mind froze. Bending down, he put his ear next to her mouth and felt a wave of relief. She was breathing.

"Miracles," he whispered and picked her up. And then nearly dropped her again.

"Evacuate! Take the escape pods! Ship is going down!" The speakers screamed and gravity turned from pulling him towards the floor and back towards the hanger doors. The blast must have knocked out one of the engines, which left him only one option.

"Nirvash!" he yelled. He started running up towards it, but the floor was tilting up too quickly. "If you know it's me, help! I can't do this alone, I need you. Help her! I know you're in there!"

A green flash filled the room as the angular head of Nirvash popped from its socket. The mechanical beast then unbent and twisted from its car like form into a more human like appearance. Renton suddenly lost grip on his feet and began falling back, but the large metal hand came swooping down and caught him.

He let out a breath of relief as the mechanical giant lifted him into the cockpit. The designs were old fashioned, but not too different then when he first rode it.

He set Eureka down in the co-pilot seat before taking back the helm. Being inside the Nirvash meant Eureka and himself were now safe, but the same couldn't be said for everyone else. Looking around the people, he began to make out a few familiar faces, amongst them his father's, who seemed to be coming to after the blast.

"Fathe-," he stopped himself, "Adrock Thurston."

His father lifted himself, shook the daze from his head, and looked towards the voice calling him. His eyes shot wide open.

"Get in!" The Nirvash swooped a giant hand down. Although partly reluctant, Adrock hopped on. Renton continued to look around hoping to find Mischa, but her body wasn't amongst the others. She must have escaped. "Thank you," he whispered.

The Nirvash lifted its massive hand towards the cockpit and dropped his father off in the co-pilot seat beside him.

"You're full of surprises, aren't you," his father said while making room for himself and Eureka.

Renton let out a nervous laugh, "more than you know. The ship is falling, is it possible to save it?"

Adrock looked towards the two blasts holes behind them. "Possibly, but I would have to get a look at a distance.

"Alright, give me a second," Renton said, flipping on the rear engines and other necessary devices.

"Wait a second. This LFO is equipped differently than the others. You may be able to mount it, but piloting is com-," he was cut off as Renton ran turned the Nirvash around and had it run and jump through the hole. His father's scream filled the radio as they fell, but Renton quickly brought it into a spin and had it land on the Ref board. Green fire spewed from the underside of the board, lighting the Nirvash in a deep green glow.

"Alright, how far do you need?" he asked, ignoring his father's expression of terror and shock.

"Another 300 meters," he said weakly.

"Alright." He checked their surroundings. For the most part, the ships had ignored the falling carrier, while others seemed to gain distance in case it decided to make an unexpected explosion. He flew the Nirvash a little farther away before turning back around to find a horrific display of chaos.

The unmarked ship was tilting backwards and beginning to gain speed towards the ground. As he had guessed, the two blast had knocked out the rear engine, but not enough damage to the wings to knock it into a straight drop. It was going to fall, or rather glide to death, and very quickly.

"The damage is too severe," Adrock said carefully, his eyes squinting at the ship and several other displays that came up on the canopy view.

"We can't let it fall," Renton added, "there has to be something."

"No, without the rear engine, the ship won't be able to make a smooth landing. It will continue to decline to the side and… crash."

He looked forward again, searching for something that his father didn't see, but it looked pretty hopeless. Unless…

"What about the Nirvash?" he suggested excitedly.

Adrock didn't return the same enthusiasm. "The engines on this are too weak to support what that ship puts out. Impossible."

It's true. In comparison to giant thrusters that pushed the cruiser forward, the Nirvash would be like a flee trying to tip a dog over. On the other hand, the Nirvash was capable of amazing things, and Adrock hadn't even seen everything it could do. And it's amazing power came from the essence around them and the land itself, the trapar and the corralians. And more than that, he thought with a warm sensation building in his stomach, there was something much more powerful, infinitely so, that had powered the Nirvash, something that Eureka and Renton had created that continued to push the limits of the possible, completely dismissing the impossible.

"It'll work," he said, and pushed the Nirvash forward.

"What are you doing?" Adrock scrambled in his seat to readjusted his belts. "The Nirvash won't have any effect."

Renton shook his head, he couldn't believe it wouldn't work. "Trust us. It will."

"Us?"

"Just," he struggled for what to say, "trust us."

The Nirvash shot like a rocket towards its target. Several fighters shot by and were nearly knocked out of the battle eternally, but Nirvash didn't even flinch, it's eyes glowing a menacing green of determination that left streaks in the air. If this was going to work, they needed all the thrust they could get. Renton sensed that Nirvash somehow knew that, and the harder Renton pushed on the controls, the harder it felt that Nirvash pushed on the universe.

"We can do this," Roses voice came through his mind like a distant echo, like that strange pink spirit essences that had spoken to him before.

Renton wasn't sure why, but it gave him strength. "Brace!" he yelled. The Nirvash hit it right on the mark, throwing himself against his armrest and knocking the air out of his body. He looked up to see the status of the ship, but nothing changed, it was still falling at exactly them same decent as before.

"Don't give up," Rose's voice quickly responded. "We can do this."

Renton found that a little hard to believe all the sudden.

"Well don't. You're not the only one piloting here, now are you?"

For the moment he could spare, he looked over at Adrock and Eureka, but both were strapped into their seats and neither touching the wheel. Adrock was tightly holding Eureka to make sure she didn't fly in the impact. There was no one else that could help him.

"Certainly there is, there's me," the voice responded cheerfully."

Renton looked back up, but his eyes slowly shifted down to the controls. The jet output meter was increasing, and rapidly. In less than a second, it had already surpassed a hundred percent and was still climbing.

"Impossible," Adrock said, "but where is the energy coming from?"

"I need you to believe in me too, Renton," the voice echoed in his mind, "trust me."

Then it clicked, "Nirvash?" he asked, but the voice remained silent. It didn't matter now, he had to believe in Nirvash, himself, Eureka, and all of them. Belief got him this far in the journey, it wouldn't fail him now. "Alright!" he yelled, gripping the wheel with renewed strength. "Nirvash, let's go!"

The percentage on the meter doubled. Flames shot out from the back like streams of pure fire mixed with something more like emerald and jade. After a few intense breaths of wordless silence, the ship began tilting back up and righting itself in the air. The metal on the shpi began to bend and crack from the sheet ammount of force being applied.

"Incredible," Adrock said in awe, "awe inspiring, indeed."

"Call the bridge. I don't know how long Nirvash can hold this up."

"Hold on," he cued the link and began communicating to the bridge. They were reluctant at first, but once Renton fully uprighted the ship, they were more willing to listen.

"_Renton?"_ the voice came, this time a male's, and he recognized it instantly.

"Xellien?" he said.

"_I thought that might have been you piloting. Your style is distinct," _he said more as a casual comment.

"How are you talking to me?" he said quietly, trying not to catch the attention of Adrock as he did so. He didn't need to draw more attention to himself than he already had. A boy who could fix a LFO like a pro and pilot it just as well would only look worse if he was found talking to himself.

"_A modification I made to the inverse drive. It only works in a localized field, but we're able to communicate. Now I would like to know why you didn't follow me after you promised not too. Nevermind. We'll discuss that later. You need to land that ship as quickly as possible and get out of it."_

"Why?"

"_Don't bother me with "why's" this is a desperate situation. We're about to lose everything, more than you can imagine. But all the pieces are almost set. We're running out of time. I need you to land the ship near that small valley a half kilometer ahead of you. Do you see it?"_

Renton looked forward. The only thing he could see was the hull of the ship. "No, not a chance."

_No, look down at your GPS display, dolt._

He hadn't thought of that. Down on the radar at the same distance Xellien had mentioned was a a small crater, large enough for a small town. With a little cooperation from the pilots, he might be able to make it.

"Mr. Thurston," Renton said and looked to see his father sweating on his end. Things must not be going too well. "We need to land this ship in the crater ahead of us. Now."

"No, that's too close. We're calculating a course to a nearby hill large enough to support the ship."

"_Renton. The ship MUST land there. It's absolutely necessary." _

Easy for him to say. How was he going to explain to someone the importance of something he didn't even understand himself? Probably best to do what he did in school. Bluff.

"The engines are giving, I can't hold it out much longer," he lightened his grip on the controls by a microscopic motion, which gave a surprisingly considerable kick in response at the decrease in thrust. Adrock immediately cued the radio again and began shouting the new plan. To his own surprise, it worked.

"Alright," Adrock said, flipping the radio into standby, "they agreed to make the emergency landing an emergency landing.

"Good," he said and made a mental sigh of relief, "let's do this." He push the Xellien the max of it's maximum, if that even existed for it. The ship began to edge forward and then started gaining moderate speed. It glided over the hill and tilted downward, making a slow decent for the valley. It was a slow drop, but with excellent piloting from Renton and the Pilot and a little cross way communication, they were able to bring the ship to a somewhat soft landing.

Taking the Nirvash around, he made a quick landing by a nearby patch of open land near the ship and landed it. He patted the wheel and leaned back, letting a out a breath that felt thirty minutes old. "Good job, Nirvash." He could almost see her wink back at him.

The cockpit cracked and slid open, spilling them with the light of the rising sun. A lot of time had past and now Renton could feel the first signs of fatigue tugging at his eyes. Now wasn't a time to sleep.

"How are you holding up?" Adrock said from beside him. He looked over to see him crouched down on the edge separating their cockpits. The little wall was an old feature he nearly forgot about.

He laid his head back before responding. "Fine, a little tired though."

"I'm surprised you're only tired," he said and stood up, "considering what you've managed to pull off. I don't want to push where I need not to, boy." He looked down, his eyes less friendly and more serious this time around. "But don't think me stupid for wanting to know how it is you've managed to gather all of these skills? You act like a veteran in the pilot's seat in a ship that was just barely invented. And you've seemed to tap into some mysterious abilities of the LFO that niether I, nor any of the other researchers, even though physically of scientifically possible, for that matter." His eyes glowered at him.

Renton had to admit, all of it looked extremely out of place, and he didn't know what kind of excuse or lie that would successfully cover it up. This time, he did what he learned to do with Gekko-State. He told the truth. "I can't tell you," he said.

Adrock nodded, "you're from the enemy forces, aren't you?"

Renton thought about it. Technically it was true, but not yet. He shook his head, "no."

"Voderak?"

He shook his head again.

"Hmp," Adrock said, his thought stirring in the silence. "A clue, perchance?"

Renton laughed, "not a chance." Adrock returned his laugh with a heartier. Renton's eyes grew wide.

"You know, despite our difference in age, I can't help but look at you as a peer," he reached out and shook Renton's hand. "Nonetheless, I could tell I was right about you. It doesn't matter where you're from, you're a good kid."

Although his father didn't know, those words meant more to him than he ever new, or would ever know. The feeling came suddenly, breaking an invisible wall he didn't know he had. He quickly turned around to hide the tears that started welling up in his eyes. "Thank you," he managed to get out before his voice cracked.

"Certainly," his father said, the change in pitch telling him that he noticed Renton's strange attitude.

"_Renton, time to go. Yield the Nirvash to them and meet me by the clearing to the West. Hurry, time is short. I fear Eureka is in danger."_

"I have to go," Renton said, wiping the last tears from his eyes. He turned around with the brightest smile he could muster. "Thank you."

His father seemed caught off guard, but only raised his brows. "I feel like I should be thanking you."

"I can tell you're a good man too, Adrock. I see how you take care of her and how you watch her. You care for her like a father," he paused, wondering if he should say it, but didn't think it would hurt. "You are a good father."

Adrock's expression was unreadable, and Renton's didn't care. It was more for him to say then for Adrock to hear. He wanted with all his heart to embrace his father, but he knew that would be too much. The tears in his eyes began welling up again. Blasted things, he could never keep them down when he needed or wanted to.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay here. Our team could use an assistant like you."

He wish he could. "No, I have to go now. Good-bye. Take care of her while I'm gone." Before he could hear his father's reaction, her turned around and hopped off the Nirvash. The years were streaming down his cheeks now, and the whimpers began pushing their way out too. This, he knew and felt, would be the last time he would see his father. It was an experience, an unexpected gift, a taste of the relationship he never had with him. Father and son. It was brief, and not all together complete, but it was enough. It was enough.

"Goodbye, father," he whispered under his breath and started running for the opposite clearing.

When he passed several more trees, he found the opening Xellien had mentioned. The shuttle door lay open like it were inviting him in. He wiped the last tears, breathed slowly, and ran inside. That was that.

Stiller's shift had ended a long time ago, a very long time ago. But the battle had intensified and all ships were requiring more hours and brief refills. A lot of fighters had gone down, even a few cruisers, and the Voderak were pushing them back. Their massive ships withstood the pummeling of the UF'S superior weapons.

_"Captain Stillicker?" _A voice came, cool and quant. It had been sometime he had heard the voices, and now he chose to ignore them. It only occurred to him much earlier that the intensity of the battle was getting to his mind and causing him to hear things. How his voice knew where the unmarked ship was, he didn't know or care.

"_This is Xellien. Why did you attack the ship?" _

He frowned. Do inner psychotic voice question their own commands? "You told me to," he answered hesitantly.

"_Who did?"_

_ "_You did." Maybe it was possible for an inner voice to have short term memory loss, or something like that.

"_No, I never told you to do anything like that. Where are you now?" _

His eyes caught a glance of radar. "Near the flagship."

"_Land immediately, we'll meet you there_."

"But I'm still on shift," he retorted, but the voice went silent. Argument wasn't an option.

He shrugged, "well. I guess I can just blame it on the voices in my head. That'll get me leave," he said and turned the fighter back down towards the FlagShip, "_a lot_ of leave time."

"What's going on?" Renton asked and sat down next to Xellien. With the thoughts of his father fading back, he realized that Eureka might be in danger. However, he was partially happy to know they've established contact with the others.

"A terrible thing," he replied tenderly and carefully looked out the viewport. "Give me a moment while I land this. I might be able to visualize algorithms and solve sophisticated equations with just my mind, but I'm afraid landing a ship somewhat escapes me."

He brought the ship low, the four hangers hanging open with several ships departing and entering. On the console bellow, a small screen flashed green, probably meaning they had gained clearance to land. He brought the ship up and, despite his self depreciating words, he landed perfectly fine.

"Where's Eureka?" he said as Xellien flipped off the engines and powered down the shuttle.

"The same question I have myself," Renton felt his stomach sink, "But, I know she's in this ship. At the very least it's a start."

"Then we have to find her, now."

Xellien raised a hand sharply, his patience having little restraint. "I understand your concern, but we're up against an enemy equal to my intelligence and with double the authority. I'm nearly a criminal, he's a renowned general. Now Renton, I must add something," his tone turned grim as he looked at him. It wasn't often the professor showed other emotions other than impatient or indifferent. This was the first time he had seen him grim since they first met.

"Renton, the time is closing up. There is only one way back to the future and it's through an anomaly you're quite familiar with related to the Nirvash."

Renton had somehow knew what it was going to be, considering that major history trip this time travel had been. "The Seventh Swell?"

Xellien nodded. "It's risky at best, and we only have a few hours more before it happens."

His mind raced at Xellien's words. Before Renton, the Seventh Swell effect had only been known to happened twice in history. Once to begin the war and the other was to end it. It all fell together at once, his history class slamming him in the back of the head like a teacher to a sleeping student. How had he missed it?

"This is Gingrish," he said, his sounding distant, as though the words were spoken by someone else.

"Precisely. Everything I've worked up for- we've worked up for comes to this last single event."

"No," Renton cut him off, "_you_ worked up for. Xellien," he said slowly, "We were sent here to stop you. The only reason I'm cooperating is because," he paused as the memories of the torcher flashed through his mind. A shiver ran through his whole body. "I know you're not worse than him, just misguided."

"Yes, and once he's defeated?"

Renton looked him hard in the eye and said, "Then, we stop you. The coralians told us to do so at all costs."

"Bah," Xellien let out an exasperated breath. He seemed more irritated then Renton had ever seen him. "Forget about the Coralians. I suppose it was my idea, anyhow, but it's not playing out. There are too many pieces coming together at once." He shook his head and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Very well, plan A then, stop me."

Xellien looked up at him, the smile shedding and the gleam of his eyes fading into something more sincere. "Renton, whatever you do, stop me." And without another word, he stood up and left, waving for him to follow. Renton sat there, confused at what had just happened. There were a million ways to interpret his words, and he could only think of a few. Respect, hope, desperation? Whatever it was, he would follow through. He would stop Xellien, but right now or later? He sat in his seat, all too confused at what to do.

Eureka slowed her breathing, trying to keep her nerves calm so she could think clearly. It had only been a half hour, she guessed, since Collin had thrown her into a dimly lit room and tied her to a chair. She tried to make out what kind of room it was, but it was hard to say. Four computer screens hung from each wall, casting a soft blue glow in the room. Each was equipped with a console. It could have been anything from a secondary communication section to a simple information bay where training cadets could study.

Whatever the case, it didn't change her situation. She would have to make do with what little there was. During her for short years in the S.O.F., though dark, she learned a great deal about survival. Her hand already worked at the knot at her wrist. It tug and burned at her skin, but she ignored it. Another fifteen minutes later, and she had it off.

Collin had made a mistake. Whoever he was, he apparently didn't know his knots very well. He tied them in the way she imagined Renton would.

Undoing the other knots, she went right for the door. Locked. She had guessed as much. He wouldn't have been so stupid as to leave it unlocked. She thought about looking to hack it, but she didn't have the skill set. That left her with plan B.

Walking to the computer console, she began keying up the computers. They easily opened and without even a password to hold her back. That meant it was a cadet station and bad news. Cadet stations only held access to the to the information core of the ship were textbooks, video trainsings, and other student tools were held. It mean she had no access to communication stations or tactic network where she could at least see what was going on.

She resisted the urge to slam her first into the console. From behind her, back at the door, she heard a click. She turned around to see a woman standing at the door with brown curly hair and a gun in her hand.

"Sit down," she said, her voice shaking as though Eureka were the one with the gun. It occurred to her that the woman was distrubed.

"I'm a soldier. I was trapped in this room by accident,"

"I know who you are," she said weakly and dropped her shoulders. "Eureka."

She froze in her place. Apparently she did. "Who are you?"

"A," she seemed to look uncomfortable before continuing, "associate to Collin. I'm Alison" She adjusted her glasses and pointed to the chair. "He told me to check on you. I guess it was a good thing." It didn't look like she meant that, Eureka though.

Not feeling entirely threatened but still uneasy about the gun, she walked around to her chair and sat down. If the chair were only two feet closer to the door, she might be able to make a jump at her. Then again, maybe she didn't even need that. Judging by her uneasiness with the gun, there could be another way. "It didn't matter anyway. The door was locked and the computers don't give me access to anything," she said.

"I suppose it's better safe than sorry. Tie your feet in place, please.."

Eureka gave a nod and slowly reached down to make the knot. She didn't start tying yet. This woman seemed unusually uneasy about holding the gun at her, in fact, whoever she was, she seemed down right terrified by it. Physically fighting her way was risky, but maybe she could improve her chances. "Can I ask you a question?"

The woman seemed slightly startled, "what?"

"What does Collin want?" she said and leaned up slightly, only slightly.

The woman's reaction surprised her. She only shrugged. "I'm not sure anymore." Eureka felt a wave of surprise at her honesty.

"Then why are you working for him?" she leaned up just a little more, hands slowly weaving the rope into a ball.

"Because I don't have anything else," the woman said.

"What do you mean?"

This time she scowled at her. "What does it matter to you?"

Eureka tried to look innocent, but espionage wasn't her strength. The confused expression on the Alison's face acknowledge that. "You just don't seem like you like it," Eureka said quickly.

The woman shrugged, "what if I do? What if I don't? And I see what you're doing, throw the ball to me," she said, motioning to her hand with gun.

Eureka felt a tad of sad disappointment and frustration sting at her eyes. The SOF training had worn off over the years, she guess. "You have to let me go," she said quietly, tossing the knot up to her.

She began unraveling it. "I don't see why you should care. Collin will let you live, Renton too, he told me."

"He's not going to kill us?"

"No," she said and threw the ball behind her, "he doesn't see how it helps him. Right now he's just utilizing you to throw off Xellien's plans. Isn't that what you want?"

Eureka thought about it and couldn't think of why it wouldn't be. All she wanted to do was go back to the future with Renton, see their kids and be with Gekko-State again. If it was that easy, Collin didn't even have to tie him up. "Why so extreme?" she said as the question came to her mind.

"Collin is like that. He always takes things to the extreme, but in the end, means no real harm," she said sharply, eyes glowering threateningly. Eureka could somehow feel by captor's reaction that the other didn't believe her own words.

"When can Renton and I go back?" Eureka asked automatically.

She ignored the question and began to turn around to leave and lock the door.

She couldn't give up. "When can Renton and I go back?" She said more loudly and determinately.

The woman's face came slightly into view as she turned her head. Her eyes were grim. She wasn't going to respond, and Eureka could tell why. "That's not in the plan, is it?" Eureka answered her own question.

The other didn't move, but the look in her eyes said enough. "I have to go. I'll be back with food when the time is right."

"Wait!" she said quickly. She didn't know what else to say, her mind raced. "Please, let me go. You have too!"

"I can't," Alison repeated, "just be satisfied with what you have here. At least you still have your guy." She began turning around to leave.

"And what about my kids?" Eureka retorted.

Alison froze in her spot. "You have kids?" All Eureka could think to do was nod in response.

"I," she struggled to speak, her voice cracking, "didn't know." To Eureka's surprise, she could see her eyes watering. "I'm sorry, I didn't know." And for the first time, she began lowering her gun.

A shadow behind her shifted, and suddenly without a word, she collapsed to the ground. Cold. Eureka sat in silence for a moment until a slender lady with red fiery hair stepped into the door way, partly silhouetted by the hall lights. "Miss me?" Shara said, her smile confident with a I-told-you-so right behind it. In her hand was the hilt of a gun.

"Yeah," she said truthfully. Although Alison had begun to lower her gun, it didn't necessarily mean she was going to let her go. At the same time, she couldn't help but wonder.

"You got lucky, I was passing down this hall looking for you and guessed right. But we should go, I have great news." Her eyes were bright and her smile wide. "Our boyfriends have arrived."

Eureka's head shot up, the thought of Alison's last action fading from her mind like an afterthought. "Where?"

She winked. "Talk's cheap. Let's go!"

And then left at running speed, leaving Alison limp on the ground.


	6. Interlude II: The Breath After the Last

**Interlude II**

**The Breath After the Last**

Maurice nibbled on the end of the root, chilly air biting at his lips as he did. The wind was terrible. Horrific. It dug into ever hole it could find in his clothing, lathering him in frozen tundra. His stomach growled in response. Exhausted from heating his body and keeping his mind awake from the little nutrients he would pull from the plant.

But if he had to be honest with himself, he never felt more alive.

His blood pumped, his eyes vigilant and focused. For the first time in months, he knew where he was supposed to be. The edge his stomach gone from past mistakes. Sorrow stirred down there, mixing in with the excitement and prospect of possibly returning back to the Gekko-State.

To his brother Linck.

To his Sister Maeter.

To Mom.

The pangs cooed within him, and he shook the thoughts from his mind along with the pain of the bitter cold.

Ahead of him, just beyond the rocks, was a small hole, barely three diameters in size. Yet, in the last six hours alone, he had seen three figures emerge and leave the hole several times, as though scouting the area. That was no hole, it was a cave, and it was populated, and he knew with what. Despite all of his mistakes and errors, if he could uncover this one thing, whatever lay inside the cave, they would forgive him. They would see him for his valiance and courage and welcome back with open arms.

Warmth burned inside his chest. The third figure appeared, his white, hood covered head emerging only a second before disappearing back into the hole. The schedule now reset. He knew that in twenty minutes the first figure would reappear, giving him, he guessed, two minutes to get inside, take down the third, and improvise the rest from there.

He leapt from the ice skinned rocks, scaling seven feet across the air before falling into a mad dash. Pebbles, ground, and boulders disappeared beneath him like a blurring stream of water before he spun and fell down into the hole. He fell a surprising eight feet, crouched, rolled, and span up right with gun in hand. The room was empty.

He scanned the room with the little light he had from the whole above. And found it completely vacant.

A breeze lightly brushed his face and his eyes flicked reflexively to a dim, barely noticeable light squeezing out between two rocks.

He smiled, _bingo_.

The way down was easier than he assumed. Much easier. Too easy.

The guards were subpar in skills. Removed like ants under his feet. He found himself descending several levels, dozens into well fifties before he found a terminal that allowed him to pull up a map. It revealed to him what he had already guessed. The facility was massive. Hundreds of levels deep into the dying corpse of what was once a massive organism, the corellians.

He sighed deeply, studying the map for several more minutes until he found what he was looking for. The core command center, the control to the Inverse Control.

No guards passing knew he had been there before he was gone again.

Maurice slipped inside the door, hardly making a sound, pistol in hand. Even with adrenaline pumping through his veins, his lips burned for thirst. His body was at its limits. Even now his thoughts sluggishly scanned the command room, registering all too slowly what was happening. Or rather registering nothing at all. The room was empty.

The seats surrounding the consoles were barren. The consoles blinked ominously, as if waiting anxiously for some kind of input. In the center of the circular room was a single chair, standing tall, commanding, and dark.

"Is this a ship?" he voiced just noticeably.

It wasn't what he expected, but it was enough. He rushed down to the consoles and then paused. Just outside the window, he saw it, the Inverse Control. A massive, Inverse Drive like device suspended inside of an even bigger chamber. It's glow cast an ominous purples across the blue silver bridge.

He dazed a moment, his thoughts turning into mush at the sight of it.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" a voice sounded from behind him. He recognized it instantly and didn't even bother to turn around.

"Not really. I've seen better."

"Mm, child of two of this world's greatest heroes. If by adoption only, it's still a thought worth brandishing."

Maurice clenched his teeth. How dare he talk of his parents. "You can't win."

"I've already won," this voice icily stirred in the air, "A long time ago. But I wanted to make sure my victory would com definitively. Quickly. Undeniably. And it will. The whole world will be bent under my hand. I can choose to burn it. Or let it live. It will be my choice, and my choice alone. Uncovering this one facility won't stop me."

Maurice's stomach dropped. It dawned on him. There would be more than one facility, many more, perhaps hundreds more. Countless facilities powering the Inverse Control, allowing him to build an endless sea of unstoppable warships.

He smiled. "I didn't come here to uncover this facility." He twisted around, gun in hand, and aimed it right between Tremor's eyes. "I knew you would be here."

Tremor didn't even flinch. Maurice's finger twitched. He had been ready to execute this moment with precision, exposing himself to detection and other things at the most opportune moments, known it would draw out Tremor, his redemption. But he couldn't pull the trigger. His arm felt stiff and cold.

He frowned as a strange warm feeling began to pour down across his stomach. He didn't have to look to know what had happened. The cold blade of a knife poked through his shirt.

Darkness swam before his eyes. The stab had been critical. He only had seconds, and even with all his strength, he couldn't pull the trigger. His body had become ice. His mind still.

"You know, it's too bad. You'll miss the part where we kill your family. But, couldn't run the risk of having you down here."

The darkness was coming fast, he could feel it. He didn't want to die, not yet. Not until he saw his mother again. He would fight this, but he darkness swarmed around him, spilling inwards.

And then, in one last breath, there was light.


	7. Interlude III: Sunset

**Interlude III: Sunset**

"Visual confirmed!" Sven said from his control pit as the Night Iris soared over the frozen tundra. The landscape was scarred and torn, upheavals of rocks bubbling along jagged mountains and crevices. This section of the Scub Coral wouldn't last much longer. It's own weight tearing the cadaver apart. It looked very, very dead to Artisen.

"Magnify," Irik commanded from his captain's chair. Although from it's size on the ground, the magnification didn't help much except to fill the entire viewport with the already massive hole.

"Trapar scope," Irik commanded again. The screen changed and became something completely new.

Like a boiling rainbow, colors spewed from the hole, spilling up into the air and twisting and turning into thousands of small spheres.

"Oh no," Irik whispered, "they've done it." Artisen flashed a glance at him. Irik's tone sent a shiver down his spine. "They've built a generator…"

"Alert! We have two confirmed Cruisers approaching us. They're, ah, of a make and design I don't recognize."

"Visuals!"

The screen flashed and two V shaped ships dropped down from the cloud cover far beyond them, but their course was wrong. They sailed perpendicular to them as opposed to at them, whoever they were.

Artisen felt a spike of alarm, images flashing in his mind of old navy ships and their style of attack. "UP!" He yelled, running towards the flight chair. "Up, up, up!"

Sven reacted immediately, pulling the ship into a climb, just in that moment, a flash of light blew out the screen, sending it into a blur of static and colors. Alarms exploded across the bridge and several consoles exploded. Sven flew from his chair and slammed against the opposite wall. Motionless.

Artisen slipped, flung into the air, and slammed back down against the floor. He grabbed the railing to keep himself from slipping off into the secondary levels before dragging himself back to his feet. He shot a look at Sven and quickly assumed the worst. He then followed to the Command chair and found it empty. His blood ran cold.

"This isn't good!" Irik's voice called from the front where Artisen found Isen in the piloting station.

He ran to the front. "What?"

"Bad! Very vad!" Irik yelled as another alarm, highpitched and blue, began ringing. Artisen felt a strange twisting motion in his stomach and a strange lightness. He touched his head wondering if perhaps he had hit it too hard.

"It's not you, it's the ship. We're in a slow nose dive. I can hold it up, but not for long. We're crashing."

"What in the world is going on?" Artisen yelled, none of his instincts helping him.

Irik glared at the console as numbers ran across, "A lot of system are down and not responding. Whatever it was, it's downed us in one shot. We have to abort ship. NOW!"

Artisen froze in place, thinking quickly with only one person coming to mind. Kess. "Alright, make the announcement."

"I already did. The automated system is alerting everyone. Speakers are down in this room for whatever reason. Go, now."

"What about you?" Artisen asked, glancing at his gimpy leg. "I can carry you out."

Irik hesitated, his mind racing behind his eyes, information pouring like energy through thousands of synapses. Every one clearly pointing to the same inevitable conclusion. Someone had to fly the ship down so everyone else had time, they both knew it.

"You ready for this?" Artisen said, the words like ice through his teeth.

Irik sighed and leaned back. "I suppose so," he said, "It's not quite how I imagined it."

"I would stay if-,"

"I know," Irik said tiredly, his eyes flashing an age much older than they truly were. "Kess will need someone. She's probably in her room bawling," he said with a smile. "It should be me saving her. She was my responsibility.

Artisen nodded uncertainly.

"Good luck," Irik said, and took hold of the controls. The screen flashed to life suddenly and the ground was quickly rushing up at them. Artisen ran the layout of the ship through his head, from the pods, to Eureka's room, from the command bridge.

He could make it if he ran, so he ran.

His heart raced, feeling lumpy and dead inside of his chest. The world around him burned, heat pouring through the walls like blasts of hot water. He grabbed a pipe hanging from the wall and swung himself to the door, slamming the emergency lock. The door ripped opened and he expected to hear crying and screams, but his ears were death. He slipped inside.

Kess was kneeling against the bed, grabbing it for dear life, eyes bursting with tears. He rushed over, grabbed her, and spun out. In less than a minute he was in the nearest escape pod in Eureka's Room and hit the launch button.

The wind ripped past them, light flashing before their eyes. Kess screamed, her voice surpassing the ringing in his ears. He grabbed the controls of the small shuttle and took control, forcing the shuttle to write itself. The spinning lights slowed. Roaring wind became calm. And quickly they were flying forward.

His heart froze, the moment he had been waiting for. He glanced out the window at where the Night Iris had been falling and found it on the ground just billow a smoldering fiery heap. The Night Iris was down and with it one of the greatest minds to have ever cross this word.

His hand slammed the radio to all frequency.

"Attention, this is a survivor of the Night Iris. We surrender and await your orders."

He waited, bracing himself against the cries of kess that had now become horse.

The speaker crackled, "I'm sorry," the icy voice creaked through, "we won't be taking any of those today," the voice sounded almost cordial about it. Artisen sat in his seat, a cold chill running through his body. He glanced at the two "V" shaped ships and knew exactly what was about to happen.

He held Kess tight against his chest and closed his eyes. He always figured it would be at gun point, or one night he just wouldn't wake up. Somehow, the idea of dying while fleeing, helpless but completely aware, never occurred to him as the way to go.

"Hey Kess," he said smiling. Kess pulled away, her beat red eyes staring up at him hopelessly. "Guess what?"

"W-what?"

"We're off to see Mom!"

Her whimpers stopped. "Mom?"

"Yup!" he said jovially. An image of Klera flashed through his mind, red hair sparkling in the sunlight. He had only met her once as a result of a particular mission. A nice woman. "I hope you're excited!"

Her face beamed brightly. "Yes!"

And then a flash of light.


	8. Chapter 17: The Awakening

**Chapter 17: Bohemian Rhapsody**

Stiller hopped down from his vehicle and stretched his back muscles. Sitting in such a crammed space for such a long time left him feeling stiff and useless. Nonetheless, the message from this Xellien guy did sound pretty important. Hopefully he wouldn't be wanting more than what he'd already done, but there was an edgy feeling at the back of his mind telling him there was more he should worry about. Instinct saved him on numerous occasions in the battlefield, but here he wasn't sure what the danger would be.

And speaking of danger, just turning the corner he saw a gangly tall man and small but better built man turn around from the back of his vehicle.

"Xellien?" he guess out loud. The man gave him a faint smile that reminded him of a close uncle of his. He nodded and suddenly felt much better about the voices. Turns out there was some sort of advanced speaker system aboard his ship afterall, probably. He'll find it and rip it out another time.

"I'm glad to see that you're alright," Xellien said as he came up in front of him. He glanced at his smaller companion. "This is Gerald, an assistant of mine. We're going to have to move quickly."

"What's the deal?" he asked casually. The chaos of rushing personnel and screaming officers seem peaceful compared to the outside.

"Your wife and his girlfriend."

Stiller felt his leg stiffen. "My wife?"

"Correct, and I'm afraid we must act now before it's too late. You said you heard another voice in the vehicle?"

The causality faded from his persona. "It sounded older, but not outside of forties or fifties. It was a softer voice, somewhat like yours but a little edgier.

Xellien nodded and started heading for the exit on the side of the hanger. "It's Collin, as I thought." Stiller struggled to keep up with his long strides, but managed better than Gerald. "I think I've deduced correctly what it is that he's planning. But I think we have the advantage on him."

"How?" Gerald asked before Stiller had the chance. He wondered what this kid had to do with all of this.

"Simple. I have one new asset of which he's not aware. And don't ask," he said before the question was out of Stiller's mouth. "This asset is mine and mine alone. Though it won't come as a complete surprise to you Stiller, I would think.

Stiller frowned. Actually, it probably would.

"Quickly, we're off to the second communications room."

It didn't take them long to climb a few decks. Stiller tried to put back on his best casual face, which wasn't that hard for him. Actually, he didn't need to, he always had that face on. When they reached the door, Xellien held up his hand for them to stop.

"So, I think it would be nice to know what it is that we're about to get into. Don't you?" he said, bumping Gerald's shoulder. He had been quiet the whole time and it didn't look that would change soon.

"It's simple really," Xellien said, taking a turn at being casual. "Collin may be a mastermind of thought and strategy, but I don't imagine he's physically adept at anything except walking. Probably not even that quickly."

"So you're saying we just go in and stop him?" Stiller said.

"Dear goodness no," Xellien muttered and reached into his coat and pulled out a set of pistols. "Not _just _go in-with these of course." He handed one to Stiller and Gerald.

"Now?"

Xellien nodded, "yes, let us enter." All three of them walked inside the moment the door open. Stiller's training instinctively kicked in, and he felt himself crouching and holding the gun out at a ninety degree angle. When he entered the room, it was mostly dark with a faint glow coming from the Command Map at the center of the room. It wasn't exactly the comfortable lounge setting he expected.

In the center of the room stood a large flat screen display. It cast a faint glow in the air around in where it stood in stark contrast to a black figure. It turned it's head to profile, chin jutting out like a hammer.

"Well you certainly took your time," the figure said, his voice icy in the dark room.

"Collin," Xellien said as if greeting him.

"Xellien," the other said in the same tone before turning his head back. Stiller felt a shiver run down his spine. They guy must have seen the weapons pointed at him, or at least that they had. But no, the man stood with a stiff atmosphere that said to him this was all business. That kind of sturdiness and firmness meant he was the one in control, not them.

"I suppose we've reached our conclusion then," Xellien repeated, starting to take silent steps toward him. "You've lost."

The other shook his head gently and ticked his tongue. "I wouldn't say that necessarily."

The floor shook with such tremendous force that it sent Stiller off his feet and rolling back out into the hall. Yells from the others was deafened by a loud stomach twisting blast from the back of the ship. The lights shined brightly before bursting into sparks and flames, plummeting all of them into darkness.

Everything happened so fast that there was hardly time to think what happened. The emergency lights had kicked in, casting a reddish glow in the hull. Standing up, he noticed a shadowy figure leaving the hallway.

"Xellien?" he asked. The figure shot him a look, flashing the shape of his hammer chin against the lights. "Nope!" he grunted and realized quickly realized he had no weapons. Without really thinking what would happen, he charged the shadow.

Collin threw a fist at him, but he ducked out of the way and shoved his head into his stomach. The elderly fellow grunted and could feel him fall down from weakness of breath. Stiller grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him to ground and planted a knee on his back. "Got him!" he said, the words coming out like a whisper more than a yell. There was no response. "Guys?

"Right here," Gerald said, coughing as his shadowy shape left from the room. "Where is he?"

"I have him pinned under my leg. Where is Xellien?"

The other slouched against door frame. "He said he wanted to take a look at the systems. He thinks that Collin did something," he heaved a heavy breath, "-something pretty bad."

"You alright?" Stiller could make out that he was gripping his side rather tightly.

"Bruised it," he said with a sharp cough.

"Sure," he said, not entirely believing it. By the way the kid held his side he probably had broken a rib or two.

"Grim news, I'm afraid," Xellien said as he emerged from the doorway. "Two of the aft engines overheated and exploded. The ship is slowly declining in altitude. It's heading towards the same location as the unmarked ship."

Stiller noticed the faintest twitch from Renton. Something about this ship unmarked ship was important, and he would find out what that is. Considering the circumstances, it probably isn't the best time to pry. Shara would have the chance to tell him anyway. She would die before keeping a secret from him.

" Are we going to die?" Renton said quietly.

Xellien didn't response immediately. He held his chin and held his eyes intently at the wall opposite him. "No, there is a way. But we must act quickly. Come, we're running out of time."

The haze licked at her eyes with sharp sting. She rubbed them vigorously, but it only made the blurriness worse and sting deeper. The explosion had thrown her against the wall and it seemed for a while that she was out, but that feeling went away after her ears filled with the blaring roar of the emergency sirens. She felt the floor vibrating beneath her, meaning something somewhere had gone wrong. It was too subtle to tell from which direction it was coming from, but she had a good guess.

She pulled herself to her feet and looked around for Shara. In the blast she had flown a few feet and rolled several more. "Shara!"

"Don't yell," the other said directly behind her. She probably would have jumped in surprise if it wasn't for her body being entirely numb. "Something blew up pretty good," she commented dryly. Her red hair was now thrown up all over her head like a bad bush trimming job.

"I think it might be the engines," Eureka said as she placed a tender hand on her shoulder.

"It sounds to me like we were hit by another ship."

Eureka shook her head, "I have a sixth sense for this kind of stuff." Explaining it to her would take too long and her brain didn't feel like it was in the mood. "It's the engine, trust me."

Shara gave her a look that said she knew there was more there than Eureka wanted to say, but she only shrugged. "If the engines exploded, then we're in more trouble we can handle. These ships barely hold themselves up with the five that keep them up." She grimaced and looked back down the hall. "We should get off the ship, but not until we find Stiller."

Eureka felt her stomach sink slightly. The explosion was strong enough to shake the whole ship. There is no telling what happened to Renton or if he is even safe. She felt a great need to know right then. "How are we going to find them?"

"I don't think it would be too hard," Shara said as she bent down and picked up her pistol from the floor. "If the ship is going down, Stiller will go where he always goes. To the hanger. He wouldn't trust an escape pod over his personal fighter. And if the directions that Xellian gave me aim true, that's where we're all supposed to meet. So I suggest we hurry."

The air was starting to get thinner, Renton could feel it in the slight burning in his lungs. He was sure with the altitude that they were flying and blast of the engines, air decompression was unavoidable. That was only one of the many things he had to worry about.

Collin trailed behind him, obediently following them in their quick approach to the engine room. But anyone would who had a gun pointed to the back of their head by a trained marksman would do that. Stiller displayed his training well, keeping just enough distance to not be touched, but not too far away to give him room to dodge out of the way of his gun. But that could easily be disturbed by a small distraction.

"Here we are," Xellien said ahead of them. They came to a small panel door that didn't reach any higher than Renton's waste.

"This is it?" he asked rhetorically.

"Certainly. Any direct access to the engine room would be useless. There must be too many engineers trying to make their way in."

"Or out," Stiller threw in. "How do you plan on fixing the engine, exactly?" A look flashed across Xellien's face, but it was too quick for Renton to read.

"As much as I like plans," Xellien said, "this one I'll have to do on the fly," he shot a grin at them filled with a confidence that Renton didn't feel.

"You won't be able to fix it," Collin said, his voice cool and firm. "I've overloaded the turbines by pumping the gas into external processes and cutting the coolant system. The mechanism should be all but shattered, if not entirely disintegrated," he looked at Xellien with a smile that chilled Renton to the core. "You're welcome to try, though. It would be a site to see."

"Uh huh," Stiller said with an eyebrow cocked. "Something tells me that this guy shouldn't be coming with us. Just a guess."

"You're right." Xellien agreed. "Take him to the hanger. But be quick, I estimate we have another thirty minutes till impact."

"Till impact?" Renton voiced back. "Just thirty minutes?"

"Sounds about right," Collin said, "that's my estimate."

"Did you account for trapar flow?"

Collin nodded, "What I could figure out in my head, yes, give or take a few minutes."

He felt like gritting his teeth hearing these too talk so nonchalantly. This man had successfully planned a way to destroy their now _and_ future selves. And Xellien found ways to comfortably confirm mathematical equations. "We should get moving," Renton said in a voice that wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Very well Renton, you take the lead." He said, gesturing towards the door. "Stiller, good luck."

They didn't even say goodbye as Stiller directed Colin back to the hanger and turned to leave. Not that he was expecting it, he hardly knew who Stiller was and he would be happy never to see Collin again. But despite that thought, he felt something strange in his stomach in the parting that he couldn't describe. Somehow he knew this would be last time they would see each other, but not.

He shrugged the feeling off and began opening the panel door. Whatever the feeling meant, it probably wasn't all that important. Right now he had more important things to worry about, such as a giant falling airplane.

They climbed into the panel and Renton was introduced to the inner tubing of the Flag Ship. Memories of Eureka and himself with Talho and his adopted mother Ray flashed through his head. The design was different, but the memory left a cold feeling in his stomach. That moment ultimately led up to his last moment with Ray. A chilly thought. The pain still felt somewhat fresh, despite how much time had passed since then.

He looked back down at Xellien. They were climbing up a set of ladders now. Although he was at the lead, Xellien told him where to turn and when. The man seemed to know everything. It didn't take more than a few minutes before they reached another panel door at the top of the ladder above them. He reached to open it.

"Stop!" Xellien said, "touch it with your hand, is it hot?"

Renton touched it and held it in place. He really should of thought of that too. "It's a little warm. Should I open it?"

"It should be alright, open it."

Renton grabbed the latch, twisted, and pushed it open. A flash of hot air spilled around them, stinging his cheeks like the tongue of a poisonous serpent. He coughed as he breathed. "It's hot!"

"Really?" Xellien said nonchalantly. "Can't imagine why. Are you going to go up or shall I push you in?" Renton silently mocked him before heaving himself into the room. It was quite the site.

The engine room wasn't that unlike the Gekko-Go, not nearly as condensed and sleek. They were in a long hall which revealed all five engines pumping power into the massive jets that drove the ship. His heart sunk, all of it was on fire. Pieces of paneling from the ceiling fell and clattered away from them, sounding like a whisper in the roar of the flames.

"What are we going to do?" he yelled. He probably wasn't as experienced as Xellien in machinery, but he was just as gifted. And from what he could tell, this whole operation was a lost cause, which left him with a deeper concern. Did Eureka and him fail the mission? If this ship lands on its intended target, it'll crash into Eureka and Adrock, killing them, stopping the summer of love, and ripping their future in half. He will never know Eureka.

"Don't lose hope yet," Xellien said in a firm voice. Tell me what you see Renton, think."

Renton looked at the engines where Xellien pointed. There were, to his surprise, two still operational. "Those two aren't enough to keep us up. Couldn't we just turn the ship?"

Xellien shook his head, "No, the blast destroyed the panels. It's a technological miracle that we're not spinning to our deaths."

Renton thought fast. The image of him piloting the Nirvash and pushing the giant unmarked ship to a safe landing flashed through his mind. But the engines were already overheated and would most likely explode. The blast would only nudge them, but then again, a nudge is all they need.

"I have it!" Renton said excitedly. "We'll overload the engines."

Xellien scoffed, "they'll explode before we get any real momentum." He paused after saying that, "Ah, I see. That just might do it."

They began running around piles of flaming rubble and the collapsing ceiling. Light from the outside sky began to pour through the crack in the ceiling. Flames twisted and writhed from the new inflow of air that both fed them and pushed them back from the engines. Renton gave silent thanks for the extra help.

They reached the farthest of the engines. As they neared the door, the heat was intense compared to everything else, but the door itself that led into the control room seemed normal enough. However, from above Renton could tell that the structure was highly unstable. They would have to be quick.

Xellien pulled a cloth out of his coat and opened the door with ease.

"The timing has to be perfect, Renton," Xellien said as they entered the room. It wasn't as hot as outside, probably for the design and materials that made it heat resistant with built in cooling sytems incase of an emergency. Nonetheless, it was still getting there.

Renton began looking through the dials and controls as Xellien went right to them. "Stop dawdling Renton. We haven't time to lose."

"Can we overload them?" he asked, ignoring the comment.

"Easily," Xellien said as he clicked on a few switches, "but we do have one problem. It must be done manually."

Eureka and Shara had been standing for some time. Most of the people had left in escape pods or ships. Not Eureka, nor Shara. She would ride this ship into the ground before she left without Renton. He wouldn't leave her, never. Still the emptiness of the hanger left her feeling terrified. How long had they been waiting?

"You don't think they left, do you?" Shara said. Eureka looked at her, her eyes distant and sad.

"No, Stiller would never do that to you," she said, forcing a smile.

"I know. Would Xellien make them leave?"

Eureka felt her throat lock. Xellien was as honorable as he was tactful, but then again, he had surprised her. "I don't know." Shara gave a small nod, not taking her eyes from the door. They widened. She leaped off her seat and started running.

Further down the hanger from one of the opposite doors, Eureka could make out two figures. Her heart raced as she picked up her feet and began running towards them as well. But as she drew closer, she realized that she didn't recognize the second man with Stiller, though he appeared familiar.

It clicked. "Collin," Eureka whispered.

"Present," he said, scoffing silently. He looked at them strangely. "Where is my sister?"

She frowned. "Your sister?"

"The woman I sent to check on you two. Where is she? What have you done with her?" his tone sounded odd and strangely calm.

"We knocked her down," Shara said, now next to Stiller and hanging onto his arm tightly.

"I see," he said, his voice dropping to a cool, threatening low, "you killed me sister."

"I did no such thing. We knocked her out," Shara repeated firmly.

"No, I've seen it. I can feel the tendrils shifting and move in the causes and effects. You'll kill her." Something in his eyes shifted.

Eureka could see they were losing control fast. The same look in those man's eyes she had seen many times in her military lifetime, face to face. Those of a man about to attack, even if it meant their death. Ciudad de los Cielos flashed through her mind. She glanced at Stiller who was holding the gun, he nodded.

"Alright buddy, remember your position. I'm sure your sister is fine," Stiller said, raising the gun to remind him who was in control.

"Oh dear boy, you think I didn't want you to catch me? Naïve little boy, I know how this all ends, I see it all. No one wins," he said so matter of factly, a chill touched her back. This man wasn't insane, she could see that, but the determination behind those shadowy eyes were burning silently. This man She braced herself for anything. Just as she did, he moved.

Stiller fired his gun, but it was too slow. Collin twisted around, dodging his aim and then kicked the gun from his hands. Eureka launched forward, but he was ready. He threw up his arms like pads of metal, taking her kicks straight on without a budgel. She switched to fists, but it was useless as he easily dodged each one, moving out of the way before she even begun to swing, as though he knew where she was aiming.

"I see everything, Eureka," the man smiled, his face suddenly seeming older than before.

Stiller went for a kick, but Colin caught it, flipped Eureka around and slammed her in the stomach, knocking her to the floor. She rolled to her feet and ran to jump him, but like always, he somehow saw everything coming at him and simply moved and pushed her gently, sending her force awkwardly to the right and spriling down.

"Stop." Everyone turned to see Shara holding the gun. Her hand was shaking, her nerves probably bursting from the fact that they were fighting as they plummeted to their death. "Step away from my husband."

"You'll have to shoot me," he said, his eyes empty as he began stepping towards her.

"I said STOP!" she fired. Eureka blinked, the ringing in her ears amplified as they decended in altitude. When she turned to look at Collin, neither he nor Shara were on the ground.

"Oh no," Shara said as tears streamed down her cheek. "What have I done?"

Eureka tracked her gaze to see Stiller. He lay on the ground holding his stomach, a small pool of blood growing underneath him. Somehow Collin had dodged at just the right second so the bullet miseed him, and hit Stiller.

Shara tried to rush to him, but screamed as Collin grabbed her by the hair and kick her to her knees. Eureka moved to help, but Collin had pulled the pistol from the stunned Shara and had it now pointing at her. "This is retribution for your crimes. For the death of my sister, you will lose everything. I will watch you both lose hope and we will all die together. Except for you, Eureka. Your too dangerous, clouded in the energy of the trapar, almost apart of it, really." His eyes seemed to pity her. "I'll have to just kill you. That will solify this destiny, and all will be made right."

Another gun rang the air, bringing everything to a silence except for a slight stinging ring.

She turned her head and saw a woman standing not too far away. It was a woman, Collin's supposed sister. Collin felt his chest and pulled his hand away, revealing them stained with deep red. "Alison, you shot me."

Tears streamed down Alison's face, her hand shaking vigorously with the gun. "I can't let you rob the future of all these children, Mick. It's not right. Its not right."

Collin collapsed to his knees, " I thought you were dead, but I saw you die. I must have thought-" he coughed and collapsed back onto his back. "I miscalculated. No, I didn't see all the variables. I didn't see the present, it was the future. I thought it was, I knew it." His eyes darted around the ceiling, searching aimlessly for something no one else could see. "I feel cold. I'm Alone," his voice grew soft, and he was no more.

Eureka shook her eyes from his limp body and looked at Alison. "Why?"

Alison shrugged and threw the gun to the ground. "Because he deserved it, and I do to."

Eureka tried to read her eyes, but where she expected sorrow or at least some kind of remorse, she saw only emptiness. She stood up and slowly walked over. There was something she wanted to do, but she couldn't think of what it is. Whenever she's sad, Renton did the same thing pretty consistently. She stepped forward and hugged her. As soon as she did, Alison started sobbing.

She didn't know Alison's story, but it was clear that Alison and Colin weren't from this time any more than she or Renton was. "His real name was Mick?"

"Yes," Alison said, her voice still that of a tight whimper, "Mickland Dornise. We're from the same time as you and Renton. We slipped through from the command cluster, before Xellien was sent to stop us."

Eureka Frowned, "_Sent _to _s_top you?"

"Yes. It was his idea to follow and bring you two along," Alison frowned, "you don't seem to know that?"

Eureka felt a cool sense of realization, "We were sent to stop Xellien," Eureka said, trying to figure out what piece they were missing.

Alison nodded slowly, "that would make sense," she opened her mouth but was interruped by Shara.

"Eureka!" Shara yelled, pull them from the depth of their discussion.

Eureka turned to see Shara kneeling over Stiller. She had both hands on the wound of his stomach, but it didn't seem to be helping. From where she stood, he looked pretty pale. A quick glance around the hanger revealed that the there wasn't a ship big enough to get them out and treat Stiller.

"Alison," Eureka said, facing her again. "We need to get out of here, something big. Is there anything?"

The woman quickly wiped the tears from her face, her eyes still on the dead man. She pried them away. "Yes, I might know a place on the bottom level. It's an emergency hanger that Collin and I used to board."

"Help us," she said pleadingly.

The roar of the flames was loud, but he couldn't have heard that right. "What?"

"I said that it will have to be done manually," Xellien repeated.

This time it was Renton's turn to scoff. "We're only ten years or so back, technology hasn't digressed that much."

Xellien's face was grim and now Renton recognized that look he had missed earlier. "You knew this was going to happen."

Xellien shrugged, "situations like these are inevitable. It did feel like it would be the only solution. I had hoped you'd find another, but no, I knew this was the conclusion." He began clicking away at the switches and nobs. The pounding of the engines became louder than the roar of the fire from outside.

"Xellien," he said, feeling mixed in thoughts inside. It was hard to believe that he actually cared what was about to happen to the man. But so far, it seemed like he hasn't done anything more than to help them and stop Collin. Who was the enemy here? "I can find another way."

"Certainly you could, but not nearly fast enough, I'm afraid."

"We still have twenty minutes."

"Yes, which gives you enough time to finalize my plan. That's my gift Renton. I can see all the pieces and where they are going. You have a gift too, the ability to see the spirits of the coralians."

Renton stiffened. How did he know that?

"Everyone who has slipped back received a gift, though I'm not entirely sure why," he said as though responding to his thought. "Mine is that I can see the future so long as I see the pieces that lead up to it. Nearly everything has gone according to plan, until I realized that Collin has the same gift. Listen Renton, I'm sorry. This didn't quite play out how I had imagined it in my mind. You were supposed to hate me, not generate respect for me."

Renton gritted his teeth. He wanted to deny it, but over the last few weeks with Xellien, his hate against the man had dwindled. When the Coralians had made it sound as though he couldn't be trusted, he was determined to keep it that way. Then here he was with Xellien trying to think of a way to save him.

"Renton, I know what you're thinking. In fact, I can see all it all, dozens- hundreds of you trying to find a solution. They all fail."

"All of them?"

"Except one," he said, his eyes locking with Renton's," the one where you leave me."

"But there must be a way, there's always-,"

"I want this Renton." He felt himself freeze. No one could want this, it was death, the end, nothing.

"You'll die."

"Death at my age, my experience, and with what I know, is not so terrifying. And to be honest, I've done so much to hurt this world. The interest of others has not always been my priority. It took me some time to realize my mistakes. A couple of years where I had nothing to do but ponder, study, think."

"The day you ran from home? Before you died," he said.

The man chuckled, but something was ghostly in his smile. "No, after I died."

Suddenly all the piece came together. "You were in the command cluster."

"All of us were. Your father. Your sister. The command cluster is so much more intelligent and wise. It saw everything, the inevitabilities. It was convinced nothing in the future could be changed, until you two."

"When the Nirvash evolved," Renton said. It was only a few weeks ago, it seemed so unreal, but it had happened.

"Yes, that is what they truly hoped. When you and Eureka decided to stay, your future was opened to the corallian's eyes. Your destiny was so clear it could see and experience every moment of pain that would happen in your life."

"My death?"

"As well, despite the good you've brought about," Xellien began adjusting the levers. The heat was building to the point where Renton could barely stand it. Sweat burned into his dry eyes, making it hard to see, but he didn't flinch, he didn't blink. His eyes stayed on Xellien as they began turning red with irritation.

"I won't leave you. If I'm going to die, then why wait? You won't die alone." He didn't mean it entirely, but it might convince Xellien to let him stay a bit longer to figure it out. He refused believe there wasn't away they could all survive. Eureka, him, _and_ Xellien.

Xellien chuckled again and coughed. Smoke was beginning to enter the room. "How do you do that? Such naïve bravery and kindess. Renton, you truly have changed. Listen to me." Xellien put both hands on his shoulders. He stared a moment. Something in his eyes began to moisten, whether sweat from the heat or tears he didn't know. "Your future can change. You don't have to die. Do you remember what Nirvash said before you departed?"

Renton had to think, but it didn't take long. He would never forget those words. "Show humanity the way."

"Exactly. Human's repeat mistake, forget what is important, and get lost in power, material, and lust. Show them what's really important.

Renton clenched his teeth. "What is it?

"You already know, Renton. Trust her, trust you, and all will be well. Many things are about to change." Xellien looked away as if trying to hide his tear. "Three things, go to the bottom level, enter room B, and activate it. Two, thank you."

Renton frowned. "For what?"

"For everything," he said, a glint in his eye.

Renton felt something inside him welling up too, he tried to stop it, but the streeks were running down his face.

"Three, take this and only deliver it to Shara once you see Eureka again, after you help her, of course, with a certain delima."

Renton frowned and took the paper, "but-,"

"Four," he said, cutting him off, "I'm sorry." Xellien shifted back and swung his knee into Renton's stomach. Renton stumbled back, his mind buzzing. He righted himself and stood to retaliate, but instead heard a loud thump. In front of him the door had closed. There were no handles, no locks, nothing that would let him in.

"Xellien!" Renton pounded on the door. "There has to be a way!" But the door stayed shut. Xellien had sealed his own tomb. He could stay, he could try and find a way, or he could make one of the hardest decision in his life. Trust in Xellien and move on. He did.

A few torn sleeves tightly hugged at Stiller's wound. Holding him up wasn't as easy as it was when they first left the hanger. His panting grew thicker with every step, and his arms were becoming hard to hold, sloppy and limp.

"Hold on Honey, we're almost there," Shara whispered. The concern on her face burrowed into Eureka's mind, she could imagine how the other felt. Renton still hadn't shown up, no signs whatsoever. The ship was crumbling apart, every shake and tremble sent shivering aches through her stomach. In a ship quivering to stay together, Renton could already be gone.

She shook her head. This wasn't the time to ever consider that. She had to believe, Renton never failed to show up.

They reached the bottom level, and entered a small door that led into a small hanger room, barely enough room for the single ship inside.

"I need to disengage the locks from the control room. Start the engines," Alison said as the rounded.

"How much time is left?" Eureka asked.

"I think," Stiller said through a cough, "just a couple minutes."

"Don't talk," Shara said, "just save your strength." The tears were streaming down her cheek now. Xellien's warnings must be playing through her mind repeatedly. Everything she had tried to avoid was about to come toppling in on top of her. Eureka felt a twisting sinking feeling in her stomach. Where was Renton?

"Eureka, we have a problem," Alison's voice came from the intercom. She ran over to flip on the receiver.

"What is it?" she said, noticing only now how much she was shaking.

"Impact is in less than two minutes and I can't activate the manual locks from here. You'll have to do it."

Her heart started racing. "Understood." Instincts took over. Dashing out the back of the ship, she made her way to the three stick like poles that held up the ship. She ran to the first two and quickly found it easy to unlock the hatches. A small button on the side released the wheel with a sharp hiss. She ran to the final one, but the hatch wouldn't unlock.

"Eureka, you need to disengage now. Hurry!" Eureka's heart raced like a startled rabbit from Alison's words. Her fingers slipped from the sweat on her hands. She pulled as tightly as she could, and the two metal tongs holding the wheel in place began to open, but quickly snapped back on. She tried two, three, and four more times, but she wasn't enough on her own.

"Eureka, there's only two minutes. What are you doing?" Alison's voice screamed. Tears rolled down her cheek. Her muscles burned, crying for relief. Renton's face flashed before her eyes, the children, Gekko-state, Shara, Stiller, Xellien, and for all those she cared.

A pressure hugged her hands. Startled, she turned to see a young man, rough brown hair, and an overly determined but mellow look on his face. "Renton." She mouthed. Several months had passed, and yet it felt as if they had never happened. She resisted the urge to hold him.

With their combined strength, the tongs snapped and hissed from the wheel, releasing the plane. They both ran inside without a word. The time for talking would be soon, but right now they were seconds from exploding.

"Shara, take this," Renton handed her a small piece of paper.

"What is it?" she asked through tear stained eyes.

"Xellien said to read it now," he didn't seem to anxious to explain.

She carefully opened the letter and read through it. The softness in her eyes turned sharp and shot up at Eureka. "Take my place," she said, not in a tone that expected a reply. "I'm taking the helm." Eureka didn't understand, but didn't complain either. Neither she nor Renton knew how to fly these kinds of ships. Whatever the paper said, it was probably for the best. Shara was better at flying these ships better than her or Renton. But Stiller wasn't looking any better. His skin was pale and moist to the touch.

The rear hatch to the ship began sealing automatically. Staring at it, Eureka felt odd, like something wasn't quite right about it. Then, it made sense. "Shara, Alison, we can't leave her. You're going to kill her."

Shara hit the button and the hatch stopping, "I can't do it. I can't kill her. The note says we have to go, but I can't do it!"

Eureka's stomach tightened. Even from sitting in the back compartment she could see the Earth rushing up at them. It froze her skin, but they couldn't leave Alison. Not after all they had done.

"No, it's alright," Alison's calm voice came from the communicator. "I have to be here to activate the catapult," she laughed, "My brother was wrong, Shara. You didn't kill me, that's only how he saw it. Now go."

Shara didn't respond, but she hit the switch and the doors fully sealed. Eureka couldn't find the words. She couldn't think of anything, no alternative or back door. It was time.

"Eureka, I did this for you. I too had children, but I lost them and my husband after a military bombing. My brother told me I could be back with them again, I thought it could happen. I was wrong. Forgive me." Her voice began to crack. "Please, live for them, do everything for them, don't let anything else distract you. Live with you family, Eureka. Renton, protect her, please protect her. Goodbye."

Before anything else could have been said, the catapult magnetic charge screeched to life at the opening burst at them in blinding light. Eureka screamed as the ship was turned out and around, forcing her and Renton to hold tightly to Stiller. Lights dashed around the ship like someone lit off a firework. And as quickly as it began, they were upright.

Outside a loud boom shook the ship. The massive hull of the flagship flew past in front of them, swallowing up the horizon and disappearing in a smoldering fiery burst of fire quickly consumed by flames. Gone forever.

It was really impressive. The ash rained from the crack in the shattered ceiling above like grey snow. The fires skittered across the floor like dying rats look for scraps of food. Moments ago, the whole place was screaming with sirens, explosions, and screeching metal. Now, all Xellien could hear was the flittering flames. How was he not dead yet?

He could feel at least a dozen or so shattered bones. A slight swelling in his abdomen could mean a dozen or so other problems, and overall, he just felt too terrible to be alive. Also, he did have a beam impelling him through the side of his stomach. That should have killed him instantly, along with the impact. How strange.

"For one with so many talents, one is unable to achieve killing himself very easily ," a voice whispered into the butchered engineering room. Xellien frowned as a soft pink glow enveloped the shredded walls that lay in front of them. Stepping through them like a ghostly apparition was a young woman, shoulder length hair, pink skin, and a white dress. He must be dead. Angels were not at all what he imagined.

"I'm not a spirit of the life beyond, if that's what you're thinking," the girl said.

"Well, that's a shame," Xellien said weakly. "You would make a wonderful angel."

The spirit walked gently across the floor, almost floating, until she sat down next to him. Her smile shone on him with a kindness that warmed his flattening chest. "Does it hurt?"

He would have managed a shrug if it were possible. "Not so much. Corallian?" He tried to use as few words as possible. His lungs felt like paper in his chest, so thin. He didn't ever remember feeling this weak. Was it all worth it?

"Yes, I am called Nirvash," she said, her voice warm in his ears. Why did his hands feel so cold?

"Why… now?" he huffed.

"Why did I appear? Because his desire was strong. He did not wish for you to die alone."

Now it made sense. "Renton," he said. She nodded. "Will live?" he asked. All his hopes and plans hinged on that one hope, that they both would live. If just that, it would be enough.

"We think so." she shifted and sat next to him. He could almost feel her warmth. It was a good feeling. When was the last time he felt this kind of warm? So long ago.

"Never the same," he said. He didn't feel weak anymore, just empty. Was he still breathing?

"Xellien, you've done it. You've saved the lives of millions. The world will be different, thanks to you." she said. Her smile was very sweet, and her words all the sweeter. But despite the warmth he felt now, the darkness was spinning around his eyes, closing in.

It became darker by the moment. So with some strength inside, he knew not from where, he breathed, "Excellent."

From outside, there was a bright flash, but Xellien stared at this young woman who was so kind with her eyes. Yes, it was good not to die alone. The mission was done and his life redeemed. _Now_ it could end.

His eyes grew dim, and Xellien was no more.

The beam of light was unlike anything Eureka had seen. In all her life, she had been in the center of it, never on the outside. The seventh swell beamed like a pillar of hope that would bring an end to the terrible war. It was the start of their history and also door back to their future.

She looked up and saw Renton. She tugged on his sleave and he looked down. Their gazed locked, a thousand words passing from betrayal and loneliness to forgiveness and love. He knelt and wrapped her in his arms. "It's over."

She sniffled and said, "I know."

"You two have to leave," Shara said in a voice that shook their moment apart. "The body you're possessing Eureka is of a talented medic who can save my husband. Xellien kept his promise, he has all along. It's all in the note. I don't understand it," she said, her eyes welling up and her voice cracking, "but it has to work. It has to be true.'

Renton and Eureka looked at each other. "But how?" they said together, but the answer came on its own, Eureka could feel it. Thoughts that weren't her own whispered into her mind like a damp mist. Looking at Stiller, she could see what he needed, how to save him. It all made sense.

"It's happening," she said, "she's coming back, the other to whom this body belongs." She felt herself losing control. A set of arms wrapped around her shoulders and she looked to see Shara hugging her. Her eyes were moist and sparkling in the pink glow of the seventh swell.

"Thank you for everything," she said, voice weak.

"Goodbye Shara, thank you," she said and looked back to Renton. But when she did, she saw nothing but darkness. The weight of the body disappeared, and she felt nothingness, but at the same time felt so liberated. "Renton?" she called out. No one replied.

The darkness stretched on forever except for one glimmer of light.

The light raced at Renton like an excited shooting start. It danced, jumped, and fluttered all around, all the while aimed at him. He pushed himself, a formless essence, as hard as he could. He needed to be in it. Just before touching, it exploded into a massive swirling beam of white light. Millions of sparkling dots shot out like meteors.

"Renton?"

He turned to see Eureka, but she was no longer the young teenager he remembered. It was her, eleven years from now. Her face and body were matured. Her hair fell almost to her shoulders, like waves of silk. Yes, it was his beloved. The memories of the last eleven years came pouring back into his mind like a stream of images and video. He couldn't believe he had been separated for all that time, it almost seemed unreal, even wrong. But it had really happened, hadn't it?

"I think we're in the Seventh Swell," Eureka said, pulling away from him gently. The beam of light might have been that, he hadn't really thought about it.

"Do you think it will take us home?" he asked.

A shadowy figure stepped out of the beam as if leaving from a door. It was Norbu. His face was grim, tired, and appeared uncertain. He looked between the two of them wordlessly, and Renton could feel something was wrong.

"Did we fail?" Eureka said for him.

"Yes and no," he said, "It was too late."

All travelers in the past had been removed and the summer of love still happened. "What did we miss? We did everything you sent us back to do."

"You did, but that all happened many years ago, when you first disappeared. But I'm afraid what you were supposed to do from then on occurred too late. It was not Xellien's plan alone to send you back, it was your father's, your sister's, even others of whom you do not know, but all too late. We saved these memories here in the hopes you would recover them and give you knowledge, but the events did not transpire soon enough.

Renton felt Eureka's arm tighten around his waist. "It can't be too late. We've come so far." Her eyes began to moisten. "What did we not do?"

"There is knowledge with you that I cannot share, except the machine known as the inverse drive." The word sent a shiver down Renton's spine. Who remember that all too well now and it's malicious history between it and them.

"Was it supposed to be destroy?" Renton asked.

"As convenient as it would have been, it is impossible. However, the plan had been to prevent its maturity," he said.

The device had come to fruition first with the LFO named Xellien. It was the first LFO to receive one instead of the standard compact drive, or at least it was rumored to be the first. They couldn't have been late the day they first arrived back on earth. Unless that wasn't the maturity to which Norbu was referring. There must be something else. "When did it mature?"

Norbu's eyes quickly flashed to Renton. He had asked the right question. "Four years after your return to earth."

Eureka noticeably stiffened next to him. "That was near the time I had reinstated Gekko State."

Memories of the past floated over Renton's eyes. "I was still in the academy." It was strange sorting the memories of what he had just experienced and the last several years of his life as a UFF pilot. He almost forgot that he was a man named Eoin.

"Yes, and it was the time that your brother had finished it."

This time Renton stiffened. "My brother?"

Eureka frowned at him. "You never told me you had a brother?"

"I don't, at least, not by blood." he said, the memories of his alternate life surfacing amongst the freshly returned ones.

"That is correct," Norbu continued. "He is your brother not by blood, but by law. The one you inherited when you were adopted. He took the inverse drive to its ultimate potential. With it he was able to build a force that will not only crush the UF and POF force, but destroy this planet."

"But I don't understand," Eureka started, "I never saw this force. How can it be complete now?"

"He's been waiting, secretly building it for many years. And now, today in the present, it will be launched. Come." Norbu waved his hand and the column of light enveloped them. Without any motion or sound, they found themselves standing in the cave room. In the center stood the pedestal holding the crystal like object. It was as though they had never left, and maybe they hadn't. Coralian organic technology was beyond any human understanding, and perhaps the whole experience of the whole time in the past had been no more than a few minutes now.

"Today is the beginning of the end of your planet. Even now he moves his forces," Norbu said.

Eureka took Renton's hand and took a sudden step forward. "But then why? Why show us everything you did only to have it be too late?"

"We wanted you to know and," he turned his eyes away, "offer you an escape."

Renton's blood ran cold. "You mean run away." It wasn't a question.

"Perceive it as you will, Renton. You and Eureka saved two races that day, ours and yours. What you and Eureka represent is much more than a step of growth in the human race, but you are also our family, our friends."

"And what about the rest of us?" Eureka's voice nearly cracked. "What about my children? Gekko-state? That many thousands of humans who are just as kind and generous? What about all of them?"

Norbu refused to make eye contact. Renton could understand their position and even their kindness. But Norbu had to understand what he was asking of them. This was more than just an escape, it was abandonment.

"This pillar you see before you?" he said, pointing to the pedestal, "is the last of our race that remains on your planet. It's weak and the only means we have to communicate with you. We exist in entirely different dimensions now, my dear friends. It once held your memories and can breach both space and time. It can carry your spirits to us, but that is all."

Renton couldn't believe what he was hearing. Ten years had passed, wasted from simply not knowing who he was and who he was meant to be with. His love and life now stood beside him after years of never knowing she existed. A piece of his heart had finally returned, and all for what? The world was about to fall apart and his old mentor had no words of advice.

He felt himself shaking. It was frustrating, everything. So many people offered their lives and lost them. So much pain was felt only to be squandered on a hopeless future. It didn't feel right, there had to be away.

When Eureka had become the command cluster, she refused to lose her spirit. When they were faced with thousands of enemies, Holland still carried them to safety. When the Nirvash had no strength left, it still pushed the ship to a safe landing. Every time there was always a way.

Renton clenched his fists. "I know there is a way Norbu. There has to be, I know it! What aren't you telling us?"

Norbu's eyes slowly lifted until it met with his. They moved to Eureka's and slowly moved back. "There might be one way."

"How?" they said together.

"A memory and a desire," Norbu said. "The pedestal is old and has exhausted much of its energy. To send all your memories back would certainly be enough to avoid this catastrophe, but it is only strong enough to store them in this location."

"But then nothing will change?" Renton said. "We never found this cave, I never knew it existed."

"Yes, this is true. But it has enough energy to send back to your minds in the past one memory."

"Just one memory?" Renton repeated quietly. How would one memory be enough? He knew his old self pretty well. Eoin was skeptical, apathetic, arrogant, and disbelieving. It was these qualities that both thrust him and destroyed him in the past.

"It's enough," Eureka replied. He turned to see her smiling brightly. After moments of pure despair, he couldn't believe she would appear so excited. Renton looked back at Norbu and for the first time since the beginning of this conversation, he was smiling.

"That, Eureka, just might work," he said, his voice deep and booming with an old confidence Renton had forgotten Norbu had.

"Am I missing something here?"

"I know the memory, Renton. The perfect one that will bring us together."

"Well, which one?"

"No time to explain, I must send it now," Norbu said, cutting them both off. "All the memories you have now will be stored here, along with two others."

"Who?" Renton asked.

"For this to work, you need strong hearts that do not walk alone. They too have slept much like yours did over the years of separation. We will distill in them memories, and they will awaken and your paths will cross."

Renton shook his head. "I'm not going to lie, I'm just confused."

"All will be made clear once you return, if your hearts are strong enough, and I know they are." Norbu's grin was brimming with confidence. He threw out his arms and the crystal began to glow violently. It flashed and sparkled, shooting rays of light all over the room like some disco ball about to explode.

"What memory are you sending? Who are the people? What is going on?" Renton yelled over the squealing wind.

"Faith, Renton. Where the path was dark, in the light of love, we see the path again," Norbu said.

Renton fought against the pull of the wind to face Eureka. Her eyes were beaming. Sometimes Renton forgot to stare at them, to look into her eyes and embrace them with all of his attention. He suddenly forgot the wind and bright lights.

"Oh," he said, the memory coming to him. "I know which memory."

She smiled and pulled him closer, their lips almost touching. "I knew you would figure it out."

"It's time. Eureka, Renton, good luck!"

And everything was enveloped in white.

"But sir, that's absolutely insane! Even if we do attack the base, they have a force that is much stronger than ours. We will surely be destroyed in the attempt. Do you want to make such a suicidal action?" A young man with clean cut hair yelled at his commanding officer. Eoin almost sighed but stopped himself at a strange tingly sensation at the back of his head.

He suddenly remembered something, a time that he couldn't quite pinpoint when it happened. He saw mountains far above him surrounded by tropical trees. Above him in the air was a woman, beautiful with mysterious purple eyes. She was smiling at him with such intensity, that it warmed his heart. He felt his lips move, but didn't remember what he said. She leaned down and pressed her lips into his, kissing him.

"-Though Eoin, Eoin?" his name pulled him from the memory. It felt so real as if it had just happened. And he couldn't lie, that girl was quite a kisser. He could still feel the slight buzz on his lips. "Are you listening to me?" The chubby, bald faced commander said.

Eoin shook his head, trying to toss the thought, but it kept coming back. "I'm sorry commander, what?"

"Are you well?" Both the commander and Clark were staring at him. His eyes glanced at the painting of the previous commanders dressed in the famous blue colors of the UF. It left a sickening feeling in his stomach. That feeling was new.

"I'm fine," he managed to say.

The commander eyed him a moment more. "Well, I'm surprised you would come in here with Clark. I thought you better than that?"

"I didn't want him to come alone," he said and froze. Although it was true, he would never admit it out loud.

The commander's eyes grew wide. "You mean to tell me you support his accusation?" Even Clark was eyeing him strangely. This was very uncharacteristic of him, but he couldn't help it. He felt like he had just woken up from a dream.

"I'm sorry commander, I think I need to go. You should consider what Clark said though," he said and quickly turned around to slap his mouth. He couldn't believe he just said that to the commander. "Leaving!" he said and rushed out the door.

"Wait!" the command yelled, freezing them both in their tracks. He turned around slowly, wincing at the other's voice. "The original plan was to have you two sit at the back of the lines when we charge in. I think it would be better if you took the head, instead, with captain's Renalds squad. Perhaps that will teach you respect. Dismissed."

Eoin turned around and left with his friend, a strange feeling in his stomach.

"Eoin, are you alright?" Clark called from behind and ran to catch up. "Thanks for sticking up for me in public for once."

"So I really just did that?" he said, that sickening feeling returning. The images kept coming back relentlessly. Every time they did, he felt like stopping, concentrating on the kiss and the word he said. It felt so real.

"Are you alright. Did something happen?"

"I need to find someone," he said abruptly. The words of the commander fading into the background.

"Alright," Clark said, "who?"

"I don't know, but I knew her." He felt his pace picking up.

"Is it someone you knew? Are your memories coming back?"

"Yeah, I did. It might finally be coming back," he said, feeling excited for the first time.

"Well, who is it?" his friend asked, sounding just as excited.

"A girl."

"A girlfriend?"

Eoin stopped, feeling the tingle in the back of his head. He could see her face so clearly. It felt right to look at it, more right than anything else in the last four years. "I don't know, but whoever she is, I'll find her. No matter what." He never felt so right about a feeling in his life.


	9. Chapter 18: The Mission Plan

Chapter 18

The cozy soft blanket around Eureka's bed made it that much hard to get up. They wrapped around her, cutting her off from the rest of the world. She felt like she was caught in her own small universe inside of them. She wish she didn't have to leave. It was probably noon, maybe later, but she rarely got up before one. But something about today was different.

She pulled herself into a sitting position. Outside she caught a glimpse of the moon sparkling just around the corner of the window. The moon? It couldn't possible still be night time. That's right. Something had awakened her, a dream of some kind. She tried to remember, but remembering a dream was like grabbing milk in a bowl of water.

It came slowly, a soft image of a man, older than herself. His hair was sharp with an edge and clean cut, that of a military man. He wore a military uniform, a design she didn't recognize, but clearly UF. She studied the uniform, the number, and rank, it was high. His blue eyes and sturdy chin reminded her of someone. He seemed so familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

She knew that she was in a cave of some kind, she could see trees and the tips of unfamiliar mountains. And look back down at the man, she felt herself lean down and kiss him, filling her chest with a warmth.

Her eyes shot open. That wasn't a dream, it was a memory. Somehow that had happened before, but she didn't recognize those mountains or trees on the surface. But then, maybe they weren't. They may have been from earth.

She threw her bedding and found herself on a feet. Something was stirring inside her, an old feeling that felt exotic, exciting, and familiar all at the same time. It was time to do a little research.

Artisen yawned. He wasn't used to a schedule. This place had a schedule. It was a bad picture overall. As a former spy of the both the allying and opposing military, staying awake was a required talent. Turns out though, it's also an impossible habit to break. At least he hardly noticed it anymore. Two to three hours of sleep felt normal and draining. People like him often didn't make it to the age of thirty anyway.

He stood up from the chair in the kitchen and began walking down the dark corridors of the Black Iris, formely the Gekko Go. Irek used to have the lights turn on automatically as he walked down the halls, but Artisan told him to turn those off. He preferred the darker setting. It was easier to dodge behind a corner without being noticed, which is good practice when you haven't been on a mission for a few months.

He stopped and leaned against the wall next to one of the many round windows. The moonlight carved a white circle out of dark corridor. Down the hall he heard a faint clicking sound, like dozens of buttons being pressed over and over again. Academy training tickling his reflexes, he began scooting along the wall.

As he drew closer to a door at the corner, he caught the faintest glow peeking from underneath. He slid a hand around the handle and gentle pushed it open. Inside he saw a computer screen shinning brightly in the dark room. A figure sat looking into it. It didn't take him long to figure out who it was.

"Eureka?" he said quietly.

Her typing froze and she slowly turned her head back, her face a silhouetted against the screen. "Artisen, you're awake."

"Says the one hardly ever is… What are you doing?" Artisen dropped his defenses and slipped inside. It had been a long time since Eureka had been up this late. Actually, he couldn't think of a time she's ever been up this late, or early. Whatever, he didn't know the time.

"I'm looking for something," she said as if she were talking more to herself than to him. Not really that uncommon for Eureka, but it felt different this time.

He couldn't really make sense of anything on her screen. It was covered with maps and photos of mountainous locations. The second screen to the left was full of pictures of what looked to be thousands of different trees and plants. Either Eureka had developed a sudden fetish for plants or she's just snapped. Probably a mixture of the two.

He thought carefully before saying anything. "You feeling okay?"

She nodded.

"Just a random interest in plants, mountains, and maps. Looking for something?" he said, carefully eyeing her expression while not attracting attention to himself. This time, she didn't respond. He found a soft spot. "What are you looking for?"

"A person," she said. She sure didn't make this easy for him.

"Care to tell me who?"

Her fingers stopped, her eyes looking dazedly onward. "I'm not sure," she said, brushing back her growing teal hair. It was shiny, even in the faint glow of the screens. He always wondered how she did that.

"Maybe I can help," he said, pulling one of the chairs from the opposite wall and sitting in it, "that is my specialty."

"It's someone I know, someone familiar. But I'm just not sure," she said and clasped her hands behind her head. Her eyes were slowly moving from picture to map and back again. They had never seemed to determined. Artisen has never seen her like this before. This must be the Eureka that everyone rumored about before Renton's death.

"Can you describe him?"

"Brown head, fair skinned, blue eyes, and his facial features are somewhat of a daze. But I'm sure of one thing," she said, finally making eye contact with him.

"What?"

"He's UF, a pilot I think."

"A UF pilot? That's interesting," he said, and by interesting he really meant hopeful. It just so happens that UF was yet another of his specialties.

"He had this marking on his chest that held his unit number, but I've never seen it before." She pulled up an image of what looked like something she drew in the standard image editor built into their OS.

He frowned, not sure what to make of it. It was definitely UF, the hand holding the hammer symbol was classic amongst all UF military divisions. But this was distinct. It had on the hand a ring with an eye, and beyond it was the planet earth, not their original planets, the one before the second summer of love.

He stiffened, an old memory tingling at the back of his mind. It seemed familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Eureka was looking at him intently now. She must have noticed his sudden change in expression.

"You recognize it?" she said, her tone sounding hopeful, but not overly so.

"I think _"_recognize" is the only word I could use," he said, mentally digging at his mind for that strange old memory. "It belongs to a special unit of the military, one that I never had enough time to infiltrate."

"Do you think you could hack into the system? Search for a database or network?"

Artisen shook his head, "no, not from here. If this organization even exists," which he wasn't entirely sure it did, "I would need some other kind of access point, one discrete but heavily tied into the system. One that's close to the capital.

"What about this one," she said and pulled up a map already on the capital. A small red dot marked the location of a city a couple hundred miles out from the capital. "I couldn't match this symbol to anything, so I figured that I might need a better access point. This is the best one."

"It's heavily contested, Eureka," Artisen said, rubbing his eyes. It was Delagua, a city he wasn't keen on visiting again. There were some sore memories born in that old place, some he would rather not remember.

"Not nearly as contested as some of the other cities. Besides, Irik has wanted an excuse to test the reflection panels," Eureka said, appearing more excited. It slightly irritated him.

"I'm certain there's another city we can visit," Artisen said and shoved a finger at a city to the north. "This city would be fine."

"That's too deep in UF territory. It'll be safer if we do a drop from space. If we come in at night, we'll make a quick entry. This is perfect," her violet eyes were almost gleaming. It was too late for him now.

He thought he wouldn't have to deal with that city ever again. A sore ache bubbled in his stomach like a scabby old wound. This wasn't something he wanted to do, but it didn't matter. Eureka was the captain. Why she was so excited about finding this man confused him, and would certainly confuse the rest of the crew. But it's been four years and she's never seen him so excited before. Maybe this isn't so bad after all.

"Are we ready?"

Artisen sighed. Nope, no escape out of this one. "Roger."

"You're insane," Clark muttered as he and Renton walked down the hallway. Further up ahead of them marched a line of troops. Technically they were supposed to be in line with them, but they couldn't risk anyone catching wind of their conversation.

"I'm telling you Clark, I have a feeling about this," Eoin said excitedly, slapping his old friend's shoulder. Clark, the rebellious and dubious, the hesitant and pessimist, was just as excited as he was. Sure, he wouldn't admit it vocally, but he was jumping like a giddy kid inside. And considering what they were about to do, who wouldn't?

Earlier that morning they had just caught the command to leave to attack the approaching POF forces. It was going to be tough, but Eoin and Clark had another goal in mind. While the rest of the "elite" UF forces were fighting the UF, he and Clark would be making a trip to the nearby city Delagua.

"How was this all going to work again?" Clark asked, perhaps the fiftieth time this morning. Eoin wouldn't give it away. The idea popped into his mind, he didn't know from where, but it almost didn't feel like his own.

"You don't worry about a thing," Eoin said, "I have it all planned out."

"What about when we get to the city?" Clark looked behind them, probably checking to make sure no one was listening.

"These computers aren't enough, I need to access the server directly. Delague is home to some of the largest servers in this sector. It'll be perfect to hack into the mainframe."

"And we're doing this because- because you want to find out who this girl is?" Clark said, his tone hinting at his uneasiness. "Not that I'm complaining."

Eoin didn't blame him, the plan was insane. "Just trust me, Clark. Have I ever led you astray before?

"Dozens of times," he responded a little too quickly.

"And yet, we still here," he smiled at his friend, letting his excitement show more than his confidence. The other stared at him a moment, sighed, and then nodded in defeat. It wasn't a good plan, and it didn't need to be. They just needed to get there before the army did. Nothing an a little accident wouldn't do for them.

Trappar sizzled beneath them, trailing behind like the broken water of the ocean. Eoin had always wondered what was it in the electrical makeup of trapar that made it like water. He never thought about it too much, obviously it wasn't intentional. Still, it seemed too beautiful to be accidental.

He shifted in the cockpit of his KLF. They were bulky machines, compact, and mostly cramped. When he first piloted them, they didn't feel right. At first he felt lonely, and odd sense of lacking. Secondly, it felt just too compacted. The machinery overran the exoskeletons organic mainframe, trying to overpower it instead of utilize it. It all seemed so forced. It's also something he tried not to think about too much.

He pulled his thoughts back to the canopy ahead, with effort. Beyond them was the POF holding point. They had been trying to seize control of the capital for months. Even several hundred miles out, Eoin could catch a glimpse of the command tower stretching all the way into space. At this distance, it looked more like a beam of light, or a shiney tooth pick sticking out of the horizon, too far to notice any detail or color.

"Where are they?" Clark muttered uncomfortably.

It's true, they were very near the base now and it seemed undefended. Eoin felt the same about it. Something wasn't right. "Well, we'll found out in a minute."

"Our whole plan is driving on this attack. What will you do if they don't show?" his old friend said. Having this conversation over the radio was dangerous, but Clark had set a person link between them before launch, heavily encrypted. His friend had talent in stuff like that, so he wasn't worried.

"Wait, I guess. It's too risky to just fly off into the city, and my plan doesn't really work with a sudden random explosion while in flight. I guess we could say it was a glitch," he said, tapping a few button on the console.

"Random _explosion_? Can we talk about this detail in the plan now?"

Eoin smirked, "don't worry, it's all in the plan."

"Woah, I have something," Clark's yelled.

"Where?" Eoin start scanning the horizon with his eyes, but he didn't see anything.

"Those dogs, they're attacking us from above, to the west. Fast!"

Eoin shot a look up at the sky. There they were alright, faintly, thousands of little green streams racing towards them. "They're not pulling any punches, are they? How many?"

"A lot, a dozen or so battle ships, a couple hundred KLF's. There are some other model designs I'm not recognizing in the database," Clark said.

"New models. I heard they've been developing their own weapons. They're too far to attack now, we'll wait a bit longer," Eoin said, easy his KLF towards the approaching KLF fleet.

His console started flaring red and sirens overreacting. Something wasn't right, they weren't nearly close enough to the enemy for them to attack or even detect it. Who would be firing?

His eyes raced to the tactical display, a red blinking screen that displayed whatever his onboard radar detected. Thousands of dots raced toward them from the main cruisers, all long ranged missiles. Firing at this range was pointless, and dangerous with so many KLF's flying outside their cruisers. What was the commander thinking?

He pulled his KLF up, easily dodging the wave of destruction, but his friend stayed level.

"Clark, pull up you idiot. One of those missiles is going to hit you!" he yelled, grabbing the side of his cockpit as a missiles shot past him.

"I can't! My controls are locked, I don't know what's going on," his friend screamed frantically, panicked.

Eoin's heart was racing. He watched from the canopy as all the KLF's cleared like ants fleeing from rain, but one single KLF sat in open air, dead in the water. From this distance, he wouldn't make it in time. The missiles were seconds from hitting him. He might be able to shoot his arm, but too risky, and possibly too long.

But there was always the plan.

"Eoin!" he yelled.

Eoin ripped open a side compartment and pulled out a small radio device with a single button. He pressed it.

Several hundred feet away, his friend's KLF exploded in a puff of smoke, shooting his friend off his board. The clunky machine drifted a moment as gravity took its grip, the missiles racing at him like predators at their prey. And they missed. He fell just a few seconds sooner before they could hit him.

Gravity then became relentless.

His friend's machine plummeted towards the earth, racing at the ground. In the original plan, he was supposed to activate the mini bombs when he was much closer, making it easy to grab his friends after he was forced off of his board. At this range, it was risky, and suicidal. Well, better than easy and safe.

He pulled back on the wheel and thrust them forward again. His KLF shot into the air, the sky dipping up and disappearing beneath the horizon. It sped towards the ground, spewing freshly burnt gases behind from the jets.

"Eoin, cease immediately! Clark is a hazard, you'll die in your attempt to save him," the commanders voice burst over his speakers. That's strange, he didn't remember the commander caring so much before about either of them.

"Sorry commander, I'm a little busy," he said through clenched teeth. The G's were building fast. He could feel his heart slowing.

"I'm ordering you to stop, child. You will be court marshaled!" his superior threatened.

Eoin struggled to frown. "Since when did I ever care about that sort of thing?"

"You don't know what you're doing," his commander's voice was solemn yet piercing in the screaming cockpit. It shook violently, as if ready to fall apart like a flimsy toy model. "If you don't stop immediately, I will eject you from this army and send you to work in the Cornoa mines, boy. Do you understand? I will _ruin_ you."

For just a second, Eoin hesitated. The Cornoa mines were rumored to be a terrible place to work. Only army men entered, threatened with the deadly dying toxins of the Coralians that once ruled their planet. There, a gas mask and suit wasn't enough to protect the mind from the dangerous effects of the trapar. Apparently it was so thick, people hallucinated, driven into a zombie like madness. It was terrible. It was torture. The commander could do it too. Apparently everyone stayed away from that place.

Anyway, what did Eoin care?

He flicked turned off all frequency excepted for his and Clark's.

"You there buddy?" Eoin asked, his cockpit roaring.

"I'm dying, I'm going to die!" Clark's voice was even louder than the shaking of his cockpit. Impressive feet for his tiny voice box. "This was your plan? Blow me off my own ref board?"

"Why are you deploying your parachute?" he said, ignoring the question. Now wasn't the time to argue.

"It won't deploy, everything in my KLF is jamming up. It must have been sabotaged. I told you Eoin, something was up. I asked too many questions!"

Usually Clark's paranoia annoyed him, but after the Commander's overly exaggerated threat and, well, everything else, he was starting to wonder too. "Can you activate thrusters?"

"No. All I have is basic motor control. That's mostly driven by the Compac, they probably can't override it, not without a lot of effort."

It wasn't much, but it could be enough. "Alright, I'm almost there. Try spreading out your arms and legs."

Eoin's KLF was still far away, too far away, but the features of Clark's vehicle were becoming more prominent. He could see more of a humanoid like shape instead of a bluish ball. The mech outstretched its arms and legs, stopping itself from tumbling but still falling at relatively the same speed. It was worth a shot.

"I'm going to have to rush it, hold on."

"Rush it? Woah, are you crazy? You'll kill both of us."

Eoin gritted his teeth. "I'm trying to save your life here and you still want to argue about my way of doing things? Clark, come on!" he yelled.

His friend was immediately silent, but now really wasn't the time to be arguing. "You're right. When you get here, I'll see if I can grab on. If it doesn't cause us both to explode."

Eoin rolled his eyes. Rushing it was a term used by other pilots to overcharge their thrusters to maximum. It was dangerous for many reasons. One it usually knocked out the pilot and secondly, it ripped the KLF apart. Apparently the UF designed and LFO strong enough to keep together, handle high speeds and turns, but the pilot required a drug to keep himself conscious. The project was abandoned after a rogue military group thieved the prototype. He wondered what ever happened to it.

He flipped a few switches, deactivating the emergency safety locks and then pushed all the levers forward. The KLF shot forward, slamming him into his seat. It had never been so hard to hold onto the levers. His hand shook from both straining to hold them and the trembling machine.

Outside, one of his cameras cracked, disabling that viewpoint for him, but he could still back out the form of Clark's KLF.

The pressure was beginning to build. He could actually feel the blood in his fingers leaving, slowly sloshing back into his body. What would that do on his heart? His peripheral visions was beginning to decrease, darkness slowly swirling around his eyes. He performed the exercise, breathing, contracting muscles and relaxing them, trying to force his body to circulate. It wasn't enough.

Clark was coming fast, the features of his vehicle much more visible now. Bellow the horizon was coming up like a terrible wave, a tsunami of ground and mountains. The darkness around his eyes were almost completely around him now. It was harder to think. The ship was shaking. Clark was still falling. Fingers numbly gripped the wheel. Clark was there. He was close. Things were so dark.

"EOIN!" Clark's voice burst into his ears and he reactively pulled back on the thrusters. Eoin's KLF flew like a pebble across water, tumbling more than flying through the air. He whipped around and slammed right into Clark, ripping of his arm.

Eoin wanted to grip his head and blood rushed into his limbs and brain. "Ouch," he grunted and wished he could grip his head. He looked back to see Clark tumbling through the air. The mech was still in one piece and falling right next to him. The ground bellow was very closing, terrifyingly close.

He twisted the controls, spinning his KLF in the air and swooshing down to grab his friend. The computers shook and flickered from bump of him grabbing on. Wind howled in the cockpit, meaning something somewhere cracked and atmosphere was spilling it. This high, it wouldn't be dangerous.

He threw the thrusters on, all of them, try to stabilize him and his friend. They acted like a parachute, struggling to keep them up. They weren't strong enough to carry them both, but enough to slow the crash landing.

His hand shook violently, the ground was perhaps two hundred feet away. One hundred feet away. Fifty feet. Twenty feet. Then darkness.

Eoin felt cold, really cold. The sting of chilly air shook him from the daze. He tried to sit up but something slammed him back into his seat. He looked down to see a set of harness holding him. That's right, he was in his KLF about to charge into battle. The memories were coming back quickly now.

He reached over and clicked the communication switch to the commander to call for an emergency pick up. Betrayal or not, they needed help quick. The radio light didn't turn on and only now was he noticing that all his screen were black. Only a red emergency light gave him any sight.

His head pulsed with a powerful ache, the whiplash of the fall probably too much for his mind. A little shake and pulling off his helmet seemed to help. The buckles released with ease and his helped snapped off with a hiss. Painfully he stood up and gripped the emergency locks, but they twisted on their own and popped inwardly. The door swung open.

Standing at the opening of his KLF was a slim figure, that of a woman. He quickly reached for his pistol but the woman put a foot on his chest and slammed him back into his seat.

"It's rude to point a gun before getting to know their name," the woman said. She sounded innocent and relaxed, not threatening like he expected.

"After waking up from a traumatizing crash landing in enemy territory, chivalry isn't on my highest list of priorities," Eoin bit back.

"Relax Eoin," came a familiar. Clark popped up beside her, another shadowy figure in the dark background. He was just noticing it was night outside. How long had he been out?

"He treated me like a gentlemen," the woman said, bump his partner with her elbow.

"She's not going to hurt us, we kind of have a _truce_, I guess you could say," Clark said. Eoin felt uncomfortable having a POF soldier standing on his KLF.

"Alright, woman, can I get out now?"

The girl rolled her eyes and stepped out of the way. He lifted himself out, checking for any pain that might relate to internal bleeding or broken bones. Everything checked out alright.

Outside the KLF he was surrounded by an ocean of Chaos. Thousands of KLFs rested on the earth around them like an ocean of metal carnage. Smoke bellowed into the skies like solemn tombstones for the fallen soldiers, and the fires beneath them gave a haunting glow.

"Wow, that battle was pretty bad," Eoin said, rubbing his neck.

Clark shook his head and looked up at the sky. He did the same and found that he said "was" a little too soon. In the sky several thousand feet above him the POF and UF still fought. Their ships casted green waves like webs being torn to shreds. Explosions and flashes lit up the clouds around them, making for a scary yet strangely beautiful sight.

"It's been like this all day," the woman said distantly.

"The only things left fighting are those "things" up there." Eoin knew what he was talking about, the Slave Units, indestructible soldiers, or the simply "the machines" as they called them. The pilots sometimes slept and ate in their SU's, never leaving them.

"I can't believe you guys use those things," the woman said.

Eoin clenched his teeth, but the anger faded as his commander came back to mind. Why had he fired those missiles? Why did Clark's KLF function? All of Clark's doubts and accusations from their two year friendship beat in his ears.

"I don't like them either," Clark said, "They give me the shivers like nothing else. What's your name?"

"I'm Sarah," she said, a curt smile on her face. "You two?"

"Clark Darsell, but you make just call me Clark," he said, staring at the girl with a slight twinkle in his eye. Eoin felt his stomach twist, was his friend actually flirting with her? The enemy?

The girl gave back a smile, which only made him more frustrated, but her smile disappeared when her eyes turned to Eoin. "And you?"

"Eoin."

"Wonderful name. So it looks like we're going to have to team up."

Eoin didn't like her short tones, but there really wasn't much he could do about it. All around him were steaming heaps of metal and machine, mechanical arms lay sticking out lifelessly along with a myriad of other limbs and parts. Throughout the field of destruction he could smell burning gasoline and fried circuits, amongst that, he also smelt death. He hated that smell.

"We might be able to pull off some POF uniforms and make our way back to my base…" she said as if in half thought.

Eoin shook his head and shot a look at her. "Why in the world would we do that?"

"As much as I appreciate your help with getting out of my KLF, Sarah. Two UF soldiers chilling on enemy grounds wont last long, disguise or not. Neither of us are trained in espionage," Clark added.

Sarah shrugged, "I know your training outpost is nearly two hundred miles from here, while our base is just about ten," she said while pointing at the massive POF air base matter-of-factly. It stood over them looming, even at this distance. Eoin felt a chill run down his spine. No, they definitely couldn't hide there.

"We had other plans," he said quickly, shaking the thought from his mind. He refused to step in the base of thieves and pirates.

"Other plans?" she said, raising a slim auburn brow. "Where else could you possibly go from here?"

"Delfuego," Clark said. Eoin resisted the urge to slap his friend across the back of his head and instead shot him a glare.

"Well that was inconspicuous," Sarah said with a chuckle, looking at him. "What are you looking for there?"

"Nothing that you nee-," Eoin started but Clark waved him off.

"We're going to hack the hidden servers there to gain access to the UF mainframe," Clark said.

"What are you doing?" Eoin yelled, "you can are handing valuable information to the enemy! That's treason Clark!"

Sarah shrugged, "Not that big of a secret. We know about it."

He shot a finger at her, "Stay out of this." She put up two dismissive hands and stepped back.

"Treason? Did you see what happened up there? They tried to kill me!" his friend retorted.

"It was a misfire."

Clark snorted, "misfire my KLF, which is now on fire and completely totaled. Had Sarah not shown up when she did, I would be dead. You too, for all we know."

He thought to retort, but the images of the events were clearer in his mind after a few minutes of being awake. Those missiles had been a strange choice of attack, and the commander seemed so determined to keep him from saving Clark. Still, it was probably just paranoia, Clark's forte.

"I'm sure it was an accident- some kind a surprise first move."

"You aren't talking about that barrage of missiles, are you?" Sarah chimed in.

He resisted the urge to shoot a glare at the pirate girl. "Yes, and what?"

"Well," she started reluctantly, "from our angle that seemed pointless. Not a single one of those missiles reached us. It was a waste of ammo, in my opinion."

"Not a single one?" Clark said. She shook her head and he immediately turned back to Eoin. "You see? I'm telling you, this isn't right. They wanted me out because I was too close, a bad influence on you."

Eoin frowned, "Too close? To close to what? And what would they care about your influence on me?"

He could visibly see his friend freeze, as if lost for words, which for Clark is a miracle. He glanced away and shook his head. "Forget it," he said.

"What? What's going on Clark? What aren't you telling me?" he demanded, taking a threatening step forward.

"I said nothing, Eoin. Leave it." There was a chilly tone in his voice, the same he always gave when he didn't want to continue the conversation. A somewhat awkward silence followed, filling their ears with the cackling and distant yells of soldiers running about.

Despite the grave and slightly haunting area around them, Eoin couldn't take his eyes from Clark. His friend refused to look at him. He knew something that Eoin didn't, and he didn't have the slightest idea as to what it could be. In all his time knowing him, Clark had never appeared like a man of secrets, he was always straightforward with his opinion, even blunt, especially blunt. So what could he be hiding now?

"Alright girls," said the only woman in the group. "We should probably get moving if we're going to this Delfuego place."

"And you were invited when?" Eoin asked.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Something tells me you two "pilots" don't know how to track by ground, do you?"

"And you do?" he retorted.

"Would you knock it off?" Clark said.

"Me knock it off?" Eoin said, his rage building.

"Hey, ladies, cool it before you blow it," she said in a voice that sounded somewhat between a mother and upset teenager. The girl probably was scarcely twenty.

"We'll figure out way," Eoin said coolly.

She took a step forward and reached into her pilots jacket. Eoin flinched to reach for his pistol, but she pulled out a folded piece of paper. She winked and patted it against the top of his head. "Not without this."

"We could just take the map and leave," he said.

"Yes, but you don't know the POF patrolling patterns. You won't want to be spotted by one of them."

"Why are you so intent on helping us?" Clark said, finally sounding suspicious himself. Eoin had begun to lose all hope in him.

She simply shrugged, "A gut feeling. I want to see what you two are up to."

"Really? And it has nothing to do with hacking into the servers themselves?" Eoin said.

"Well from the sounds of it, you two aren't exactly doing it legally yourself, nor do you sound like you're on the best of terms with the UF." She smirked, looking between the two of them. He really wished Clark had kept his mouth shut. However, having someone on the team to help them avoid POF patrols would be nice, but the problem was, she was POF.

POF were pirates and thieves. They stole ships, bases, and resources from their nation. Before them there was one order, one nation united under an unbreakable government. Then some rebel faction went crazy and took advantage of one of the most dramatic and cataclysmic events in their planet's history. No, it wouldn't do. Good help or not.

"Alrigh-,"

"No," Eoin said, cutting Clark off, "we'll take our chances with the patrols."

"Alright, then I'll just head back to base," she said, picking up a back by the leg of his KLF that he hadn't noticed before. "I'll just go back and tell them about two UF pilots traveling by foot toward Delfuego. I'm sure you'll get there just fine," she said, all at the same time having a smirk on her face. It burned Eoin to the core. He reached for his pistol at his side but only touched his hip. It must still be in the KLF.

Clark started laughing, causing him to jump. "What?" Eoin said.

"Just let her come along, she's determined."

"Are you kidding? She's P-O-F, the enemy!"

Clark shrugged, eyeing her, "I kind of like her." She gave him a look that seemed to say the same thing.

"Are you flirting with her?" She's a pirate!"

"Pirate?" the woman scoffed, "Did you just call me a pirate?"

"Look," Clark said, this putting up a hand of peace. "We're tired, in shock from a bad battle, and we all need to get outside of these smoke and fumes. The crash didn't kill us, but anything else could. Let's get out of here first," he said, eyeing Eoin, "and then continue this discussion."

Eoin gritted his teeth, glaring at Sarah who did the same. As much as he would like to pull out his pistol and end her, Clark made a valid point. Who knew what they were breathing in right now. But deadly fumes or not, he would keep his eye on the thief.

"Alright," he said, waiting for them both to unshackle their tight jaws and look at him, "let's gather up supplies along the way and get out of here."

The battle from above looking down looked horrible. Columns of smoke looked like black needles stabbing into the earth, as if the skies were punishing it for the battle at hand. By now it had been resolved, mostly. And it looked like a completely slaughter. A few SU's sauntered about, but the POF forces were picking them off quickly. Yes, the battle was over.

Eureka stared through the massive view screens bolted to the ceiling of the Night Iris command room. They displayed horrific images of the aftermath of the battle. At one angle, an entire UF battle ship shot out of the ground like a bird with a broken wing. Other images displayed close images of KLF's on the ground, broken and burning. The cameras aboard were advanced, capable of displaying images far away with incredible detail.

In one image she could see soldiers still alive seeking refuge. Usually there were just a few, it looked to be mostly UF. She saw a group of two and another of three making their way between KLFs. Images of four years prior dashed into her thoughts. She could remember looking into the city after the attack of the Coralians. Tens of thousands of bodies lay dead in the streets with only hundreds of survivors. She could still see the face of that boy who stared at her with such fear, he could not utter it. It was a horrible memory.

She lingered on the three traveling soldiers a moment more, wishing she could help them all, but they couldn't. They were too close to enemy territory, and their mission had to be kept covert. The screen turned to another burning KLF and she turned away.

"How far are we from the city?" she asked, taking her seat in the command chair.

"Just twenty minutes," Irik said from the piloting station.

She stared at him a moment. He had been adamant about starting Gekko State again, and crucial in its rebirth. But ever since their ship took flight, he had been mostly silent and to himself. Honestly, she hated him, almost as much as she hated herself. It was both their faults that _he_ was dead.

She blinked away the thoughts, mentally suppressing feelings of rage and sadness. In a moment, there was numbness. It was easier to just feel nothing, a talent she was quickly developing. Doing so seemed to drive others away, made her somewhat less productive, but at least she didn't feel like killing anyone. At least it put Renton out of her head.

Three years, and she still couldn't stop thinking about it. Was there love that strong?

She gritted her teeth and repositioned herself in her chair. It was a particularly annoying day, but somehow this mission was helping, even if no one else understood it.

"We shouldn't take the ship all the way in," Artisen chimed in, sitting at the communications and radar station at her right.

"Why not?" she asked.

Her friend, now becoming mentor, turned from his seat with his smirkish grin he seemed to always have on. Now here was a man she didn't hate.

It was thanks to him that Renton was freed from the enslaving powers of the Inverse Drive. If this man hadn't done what he did, she nor Renton would have escaped, and they both would probably be dead. Ever since helping the start of Gekko State and joining it, he had become a guide and mentor to her. Past his façade of his goofiness and cockiness, there was a man acquainted with all sorts of sorrow. He never shared his past, but he always gave her council on how to deal with hard things.

"Because," he said, pulling her back from deep thoughts, "I'm experienced with this stuff and you should do what I say."

"I think she wants a more detailed reply than that," Irik said tiredly. He wasn't as good at late nights as she and Artisen.

Artisen shrugged, "it's almost instinct now. I'm not as good as quoting textbook procedure, but usually in an operation of this nature, it's better to keep the ship away. Reflector shield make us invisible, but it's still too big of a liability. If we're spotted, we have a full fledged war here."

Eureka knew what he meant. Delfuego was a small city, neutral, but tossed up in the intertwining forces of two warring nations. They were assaulted with diplomats and ambassadors, commanders and admirals, all trying to force them to a side. Mostly their politicians were corrupt and paid by both. The citizens were the ones that suffered.

"Alright, what would you suggest we do?" she said coolly in a monotone voice as she often did when her emotions were spiking. It didn't seem to escape Artisen's notice, for he frowned at her, but quickly masked it.

"Well, since you're asking," he said slyly, "we take a smaller ship. We have a A-22 class shuttle perfect for the job. I had rig some forged ID's for us and the shuttle. Boom, we're good to go."

Irik shook his head, "And what if we're spotted? Then there's no ship around to escape in."

Artisen shrugged, "I didn't say it wouldn't be risky, but worth it. If they see the Night Iris, UF will come swarming in. But if just you and me are caught, no big deal. People won't immediately recognize who we are."

Eureka shook her head, "I'm going, Irik is staying."

They both looked at her, startled. "What?" they said simultaneously.

"Bad idea," Irik said. "You're too recognizable."

"No," she said, shifting into a more resolute tone. "It has to be me, I'm going. I'm the only one that can complete the task." The _task_ being the operative word there. Both of them were still unaware of why they needed access to these servers. But she leaned forward on her knees and closed her eyes, the signal that meant the word was final.

Irik let out an exasperated sigh. "It can't be done Eureka. We'll have to abort the mission."

"Actually," Artisen said, a slight gleam in his eye. "There might be something."

"What?" Irik said it more to mock than to actually question.

"I think I have an idea, if you don't mind, Eureka?" he said, turning to her with one of those smiles that couldn't be trusted. But somehow, she felt herself smiling.

"Curious," said a gangly fellow standing at the edge of small metal balcony. It jutted out from a tall build, lonely amongst the many other dim windows. The building itself stood in a vast cave, abnormally large and carved by human machinery. But despite this wonder of human technology, Tremor found his eyes draw to the chasm in the ceiling of the massive cave.

He felt something from it, like a gentle breeze that brushed through his whole body, in between the stringy spaces between his muscles and bones. It was refreshing, but not good news.

"Sir?" said a deep voice, one that came from a man trained not to show emotion.

"A message has been sent," he responded, not turning to his loyal body guard.

"From who?" the guard emerged onto the balcony, dressed in a black suit and tie. Tremor briefly glanced at him. The wear wasn't necessarily original, but he couldn't complain.

"I'm not sure," he said, looking back towards the chasm in the ceiling.

"Can you at least decipher it?" came another voice, almost the same. It was his second guard, dressed in similar wear as the other.

Tremor shook his head. "It's different and fading quickly. I'll have to meditate. However, I feel a need to change our plans." He took another second gazing at the whole. Light spilled through as if the sheens of some magnificent window, resplendent. He would have preferred a cave without such discrepancy, but it was unavoidable considering their operations. They needed a vent.

"We'll have to advance our operations," he continued, finally turning from the balcony and making his way to the room.

"By how much, Sir?" said the first guard.

Tremor took a heavy breath. "We should be done within," he said and paused, running the many calculations in his head, "three or five days. We can't take any chances. Send the order to the operators, and I'm not be disturbed during meditation." Entering his chambers, he almost felt giddy. Something somewhere had just awoken, and he intended to find out what it was.

"But Sir," came his first guard. Tremor knew that tone. Something was wrong.

"What is it?"

"There has been news at the royal academy, concerning your brother."

Tremor didn't turn around, but maintained a stiff posture. He turned his head and raised a brow. "Really? Tell me of this news concerning my dear Eoin."


	10. Chapter 19: Infiltration

Chapter 19: Infiltration and Escape

The city was much larger than Clark expected. Desert surrounded it on all sides, but it stood like a proud masterpiece of the all too common human resilience. Towers prodded out of the city and tapered off into the smaller ones. He smiled, happy to finally be so close. Maybe they could go to a nice restaurant. Maybe Sarah would sit next to him and they might have to share a meal.

"Well?" Eoin's antagonizing voice said. Clark stifled a sigh. He loved the man, and they had been friends ever since they both joined the academy. But for a _man_, he sure did whine a lot.

"My guess is about another three hour walk," he said, pulling down his binoculars. "The city also looks to be under no military supervision or raid. It's a safe bet."

"Awesome!" Sarah said in her sweet voice, who was also leaning on a nearby rock. "I'm so excited to change into something else other than these rags." Clark thought she looked just fine. Her hair wasn't terribly long, about shoulder length, but it seemed to naturally spike at the ends. It was a sharp auburn, almost maple in texture.

"We'll think about that once we get there. Right now let's just focus on getting inside," his friend shortly shot out. It hadn't been easy to convince him, but he reluctantly caved in and allowed her to come. Ever since leaving, he had been completely on edge. Clark didn't know what to say.

Sarah rolled her eyes, "we'll want to change, whether you like it or not. We can't go prowling around town in shredded uniforms. We'll draw too much attention."

His friend grimaced, clearly hating it when someone pointed the obvious to him. Fortunately, he didn't say anything else and just stood up and started walking down the cliff side.

"Is he always like this?" Sarah said, looking to Clark.

He shook his head. "Not usually," he said, pocketing his goggles and lending a hand to help her up. She took it tenderly. "Usually he's a goof off and doesn't take too much too seriously, except maybe reffing. Maybe I can finally get him on a board down here."

She threw a raised brow at him. "He's never ridden a ref board, but he loves it?"

"His parents forbid it, or so he told me. Apparently he's never allowed to ride a ref board. That's how we met actually. On base, most ref magazines are considered extreme and banned, unless authorized by the faculty."

"Which would be none of them?" she asked.

He gave a reluctant nod. "I snuck a few in and he caught me reading them. I thought I was doomed for sure but his reaction surprised me." He laughed, recalling the memory as if it were just yesterday. "He asked me how he got them and that he had been trying for months. We were instant friends."

"Most friendships start in a mutual interest," she said, kicking a rock off the side of the cliff. The ground level was far enough away that neither of them could hear it hit the ground. He took a moment to study their surroundings. It was vast, filled with chasms, holes, and alleys, all naturally formed. There was nothing but red rock and canyon like formations for miles. It would be a good place to hide, were it ever needed.

"So it's not me then?" she asked. Clark studied her expression a moment.

"Not all of you, no," he said finally.

"What does that mean?"

"Well, in sight of recent events, it's hard to say what I think anymore. But since my introduction to the academy, I've been taught that the POF are thieves and pirates."

"Do you believe that?" she asked, giving him a stern eye.

"No," he sighed, "I don't know what I believe."

"We're not pirates. Everyone left willingly. The Separation was a political and _willing_ result of the second summer of love. We all saw it coming."

That too only seemed like yesterday. He could remember where he was, sitting in an emergency bunker with his two parents and siblings. They watched as the planet split apart and a supposed beam of light changed the world. The POF claimed that their saviors were a mere boy and girl.

"I'm supposed to believe teenage spirit saved the world?" he said, eyeing her.

"Don't look at me like that," she snorted, "you can believe whatever propaganda the UF military spits at its citizens."

He should have been mad at that comment, but he wasn't. Patriotism wasn't his forte. "I just don't get it. You take our ships, make up some extravagant story about how things happened, and you've gathered the support of hundreds of thousands."

She looked forward calmly, not at all offended like he expected she would be. "And what about you?" she said, "We've talked enough, Clark. I know you're not comfortable the UF."

Clark gritted his teeth as he finally felt a chord struck in his stomach. He felt mad, not at her or her question, but at himself for being unable to answer it. "Truth is," he said slowly, "I don't know."

"Yes you do."

"No, I really don't."

"What about attacking the base? The strange missiles? The way they've treated Eoin and you at the academy. And I know," she said, poking him in his arm, "I _know_ you feel something strange about the UF's version of the story, your _version_ of the Second Summer of love."

His mind blanked. All the doubts of the last several years poured back through his mind like a bucket of water. He felt drowned out by doubt and superstition. Could he really have been this doubtful all along? But he POF's story was ridiculous, even fantastic, but true? Unfortunately, Sarah had begun to read him too well. He could see it in her eyes when he lied or talked about the UF and their grandeur. He wasn't very good at this.

He chose not to answer, not now. "Not that it matters," he said finally.

"Why?" she said, giving him a look that told him their discussion wasn't over, but she would wait anyway.

"Because I don't think Eoin can cover either of us this time. Whether we want to or not, the UF isn't a great option for us. After this, I think the only doors they'll open to us are those to a prison."

"They would do that?"

He sighed, "yup."

"Say Clark," she said, a strange tone in her voice. He looked over to see her studying Eoin with a little more intensity than before."

"What?"

"Doesn't he sort of remind you of someone?" she said with a look that matched her tone, as if she'd seen a ghost.

"I honestly thought it was just me, but yeah. Honestly, it would explain a lot at the academy in his treatment."

"But that's impossible, right? The body was never found, it was lost down a chasm that opened up to an ocean. And I mean, that's insane, but I can't help but think they look remarkably similar. I guess he just has one of those faces."

Clark shook his head automatically. "No, I think there's a chance."

Her brows tightened and they both started walking a little slower, letting Eoin gain some distance. When he was far enough, Sarah dropped her voice, "That's impossible."

Again, he shook his head. "Eoin is unlike any other KLF pilot I've ever seen. He doesn't fly those things Sarah, they're a part of him. When they fly, it's like their a single being, completely unified. And it's not only that," he said, trailing off slightly. This was the biggest doubt he ever had but never had courage to admit.

"When I first became friend with Eoin," he said slowly, eyeing his friend to make sure he wasn't noticing their conversation. "All the faculty turned on me. It was like the entire UF force was trying to drive us apart in the most natural way possible."

"So? Didn't you tell me on the way here that his father is a high admiral commander? They probably just want to keep him on a clean tract. No distractions, no friends, I've seen it before even in our military."

"But he has striking resemblance to the late Adrock Thurston," he nearly blurted out. They both paused, but Eoin kept walking as if he hadn't heard a sound. "I tried looking up pictures of his son."

"You've never seen pictures?" Sarah said, as though what he said were a blatant lie.

He rolled his eyes, something that felt strange and new after having not done it for so long, ever since they left the academy. "Adrock's son isn't the national in our nation like he is in yours. We don't hang flags of him everywhere."

"Or her?"

"Her?" he said and then realized who she meant. "You mean the coralian girl? No, I thought that was a myth. You really do honor them both?"

"We don't hang pictures of them everywhere, no. But whatever, continue with your though. What happened?"

"That's just it, nothing. Not a single picture or reference in the database."

"So, normal UF propaganda and control?"

"No, it's downright foolish. And if he's dead, why would the government even care? Point is, when I started asking faculty, I started receiving threats."

"They threatened you? And you didn't want to leave right then and there?"

"Well, if you can call them threats. Simultaneously all my grades started dropping, I received letter from my parents that apparently the teachers had been complaining and threatening to expel me for poor conduct," he breath quickened after those memories flashed through his mind. The anxiety and stress that toppled onto him like a mountain. "The message was clear. I distanced myself from Eoin. He was alone, like _they_ wanted."

"But you're friends now."

"Yeah, he wouldn't leave me alone," he said, almost chuckling. "I thought it would be suspicious if I distance myself entirely, so I let it go by. My grades maintained and my parent's letters were positive. I guess it's alright to be his friend, just not ask about this Renton Thurston."

"It's all very suspicious, I guess, but our army was all over that chasm with patrols, radar, and all the state of the art equipment of the time. Gekko State was the first on the scene, they left immediately. There's just no way the UF could have gotten there first. Sure, they have similar features, but it's just coincidence."

Clark felt himself visibly wince. The logic was there, all of it, but something nagged at him in his head. "There's one last thing. Just two weeks ago he told me that he suffers from amnesia. He can't remember anything before the age of Seventeen."

Sarah froze in her tracks. "Seventeen? That's the age the war began, the first battle between the POF and the UF. Also the same day that he died! Clark, are you sure?"

"It's all that I can deduce. Part of the reason I agreed to this whole escapade is to satisfy my doubts once and for all. I need to know for myself," he kicked another rock off the edge, feeling uncomfortable at having been so open with his feelings. He's never talked this intimately with someone before.

"I wont lie, Clark," she said, looking at him firmly. "It's a little crazy, but if what you say is true, then we should be extra careful. Whether or not he's the hero of the Second Summer of Love, we at least know his face will be recognized amongst high level officers. We'll need to disguise him."

"Hold on," Clark said, holding up her hands as if to slow her down. "How do you plan on doing that?"

She winked. "It just so happens that I have a few side _hobbies_ that come in handy at times like this. Trust me, give me three hours to shop and one hour with his head and no one will recognize him."

He sighed gently. "He won't like it."

"Wouldn't it make you feel better?"

The fact that she seemed more worried about how he felt than whether or not it was true relaxed him. "Yeah," he said, smiling, another strange feeling to him.

"What are you two doing?" Eoin's yelled. They both looked over to see him several hundred feet ahead, nearly disappearing down a hill side.

"He won't like it," Clark said.

She rolled her eyes, "Like that's been a problem so far?"

He couldn't argue with that.

Eureka studied herself in the mirror. Her hair was black, raven black. It was tied into a pony tail that sprouted like a fountain of ink from the back of her and spilling over her shoulders. Her eyes were no longer the deep violet they once were, but now a sharp blue. Nothing a little hair dye and colored eye contacts wouldn't do. She looked human.

"They don't call me Artisen for nothing," said the man himself as he leaned against the wall. She was playing with her hair, repositioning it, flaring it, and then brushing it back down. Finding something she liked proved to be harder than the change itself.

"I don't know," she said hesitantly. But she couldn't recognize herself in the mirror, afterall. Artisen had done a good job.

"It'll work, Eureka. Promise," he stood over her shoulder. "Besides, it's showtime."

She looked out the window of their hotel room in Delfuego. It was dark, night time had arrived. At this hour the refers would be coming out, and their guises would fit right in. The city earned its name from the refers, as they usually did their refing at night. In the dark lighting with only the moon to illuminate, reffing set the city on green fire. She heard it looked beautiful from a distance, but they didn't have time for those kinds of distractions.

She stood up and checked clothes. They weren't her usual pick, but they would work. This time she wore knee length shorts, slightly baggy, with stockings that nearly touched her knees. Her blouse was no less baggy, and feeling like she was wearing someone else clothing other than her own. But it was the casual reffer style of clothing.

"Don't worry, we'll change as soon as we get in base," Artisen said, detecting her disdain for the style. He was packing things into their bags before leaving, double checking like he often did.

"Are the uniforms legitimate?" she asked, watching as he folded them into the bags.

"They're close," he admitted, "but I only had two days to find them, so bear with me, okay?" he said cheerfully and handed her a bag. "This is yours. We'll want to leave in the next few minutes."

They didn't leave by street, but leapt from the building's roof. In many other cities, their flight would have been obviously suspicious with two refers launching into the nightly prowl. But here in Delfuego, the skies were on fire with refers. Streaks of green swirled and span in the air as if painted by the hand of an artist. They cast the city in an emerald glow and decorated it with hot streams of jade.

"Wow," Artisen said, looking around, "quite the place."

She nodded in half thought. With difficulty she pulled her head from the light show and focused on the objective at hand.

They swerved over a set of government buildings, grey and black in the city lights. She slipped on a set glasses that flickered and flashed to life and showed her a new vision of the city. The shadows became bright and the lights became dim, making the whole city illuminated. It made it easy to see every detail, as though it were day itself.

"These are nice," Artisen commented as he slipped the hightech glasses on himself. They cast a faint blue film over his eyes. "Irik has been holding out on us."

They dipped down towards the edge of the city. Eureka kept her eyes alert, ignoring any feelings of fatigue that overcame her. This operation would drive them near morning, which only gave them about eight hours to work.

Her eyes were drawn to one of the buildings where she spotted a camera sitting on the roof, following them as they glided.

"Artisen?" she said. He looked over and followed his line of site.

"Ah, don't worry. We'll be alright," he said reassuringly, "they're probably just for security."

Eureka frowned at him. "That seems like a good reason to worry."

He shrugged, "With the alterations we made to your appearance, and we're too far away and moving too fast to activate any face recognition software. Also, it looks cheap, non-military. Relax," he said and waved at her as though dismissing the thought.

They rounded another building and began to make their descent. Their target quickly came in view. It was a library. Libraries were heavily populated during the school year, but mostly empty during vacation months such as was passing then. They were innocent enough that, as Eureka and Artisen deduced, it would be the perfect place to hide the servers.

Their approach to the library was slow and casual. On top near the edge chatted three teenagers. They laughed like giddy kids, probably about popular reffing magazine, Eureka guessed. When they landed on the building, the four cheered, as though reunited with the best of friends, and then continued.

Finding a way in was easy because everything was still open. Eureka had expected to be closed, but this library wasn't like others she had seen or heard of. As they descended the steps into vast room of shelves, there was also a large space to her right flashing and blinking, filled with dancers. Eureka froze, caught off guard by so many people.

"What is this place?" Eureka said, squinting as her night glasses attempted to compensate for the abrupt change in lighting. It failed horribly, instead casting the room in a static purple that seemed to seep between the dancers and their partners.

"It's Delfuego, Eureka. Things are a little different here." Artisen said as they reached the last step. "It's a distraction, this is the place. I've been here before, follow me."

Eureka looked around the room but only saw books. It was a single floor room. To her right made the dance floor, but in all other directions she saw only lines and lines of book filled shelves.

The two of them began making their way around the edges of the room. Finally they came to a solid wall.

"Huh." Artisen sounded as though he were surprised. "That's weird."

"What?" Eureka said, checking their backs. Two late night refers this far from the dance floor might look suspicious. Fortunately, no one was to be seen.

"I could have sworn there was a door here the last time I came."

"So it moved?"

He nodded gingerly. "Looks like it."

"Then where now?"

"Back to the hotel," he said, pulling off his Night Glasses.

"Back to the hotel?" she said, not sounding nearly as shocked as she felt. "and do what?"

"I'll have to scope the area out during the day and with meticulous detail too." He said. "That's a bummer."

Eureka gritted her teeth, resisting the abrupt surge of frustration, and instead let out a heavy but icy breath.

"How long do you think you'll need?"

"Without running risk of being caught?" he paused, seeming to think it through carefully. "Anywhere from one to two weeks, I think."

Eureka couldn't understand the sudden feeling of anger that surged through her body. She felt rigid, and yet her arms shook slightly. It wasn't until now that she understood just how excited to have this knowledge she was, as though it would open feelings inside her that had been dormant since that terrible day three years ago.

Her blood ran chill. What was going on with her?

She jerked as she suddenly felt a hand on her forearm. She looked up to see Artisen's facing staring at her with kindness and patience that she rarely saw in the man. There had always been something strong about him, sturdy, but also mysterious. At his touch, her feelings seemed to smooth, like a volcano sizzling to rest.

"Are you alright?" he said, "you look pale." He frowned. "Well, paler than usual."

She wiped her brow, only noticing that she was perspiring profusely. "I'm fine," she said, slowly pulling herself from his hand, but his look was stern, doubtful of her words. "I'm _mostly_ fine." The look became sterner.

"Look, Irik and I have supported this crazy gallivanting you've taken on. You said go here, and we did, without question. You asked us to risk the safety of our lives and the rest of the crew, and we did. Now we could be potentially putting the safety of this city on edge, and we followed you."

His grip tightened, not threateningly, but reassuringly. "We're here for you Eureka, but you need to trust us. You need to tell us what's going on up here," he said, gently poking the side of her head, "and here," then pointing to her chest. "Because something is going on."

She knew the truth would have to be said eventually, but her whole theory was strange and unbelievable to herself, how would it be to the others? The supposed memory she had that now felt like a distant dream was driving her. Really, she had only gone this far because she's never felt so compelled. Something in this memory triggered her, awakened her from a deep sleep.

For the first time in years, she could feel.

"Eureka?" Artisen's voice pushed her thoughts as though a mist in the wind. "What is it?"

It was at that moment that she felt a drop of liquid streaking down her cheek. She reached up and touched it, following it to her eyes. It was a tear, hers.

She rubbed her eyes and shook her head. "I know what you two have been doing," she said, trying not to start crying. Why was she feeling this way now? What was wrong with her? She couldn't tell them, not yet, not till she understood herself. Until then, she had to trust her feelings, and they had to trust hers. "Just wait a little longer, please."

Her friend stared into her eyes, as if studying them, trying to understand them. Finally he let out a dry breath of air and patted her on the arm. "You refuse to make this easy for us, do you?"

She smiled and nodded.

"Instinct it is then. Come on, I think I have an idea anyway."

He said, starting down back the way they came. She didn't think to ask. If Artisen said he found a way, he did.

"I really don't like this," Eoin said as they entered the library. He caught himself looking at a faint reflection in the in window that made the door. His hair had been curled, dyed blond, and a faint pigment over his skin made him look like a daily visitor to the tanning salon. He looked ridiculous. "No, sorry, I meant I hate this."

Clark patted him on the arm, but not with sympathy. "You'll live buddy, come on."

"Live? You're mocking me."

His friend winked, waving him to go inside. With heated air, he rushed in behind Sarah as they entered the large library. The sound from the dance floor boomed in their ears the moment they stepped past the second set of doors. Lights danced around the room like some firework show gone wrong. The people bounced and hopped like a mob ready to burst. Eoin thought it looked a little ridiculous.

"So where is it?" Sarah said, her eyes looking memorized by the dance floor. He gritted his teeth, not falling for her charade no matter how much she had convinced his friend. Whatever she's up to, he still hasn't figured out, but he will.

"This way," Clark replied, leading her by the hand. If Eoin's teeth could clench any more, they would shatter.

They moved around the massive group of dancers and started towards the stairs. Eoin looked behind them, noticing a few people standing off to the side of the whole group. They didn't seem as animated as they rest, and one seemed a little old for the whole group, but nothing too suspicious.

They passed through a door title "Storage" in large black letters. As they decended downward, the air became increasingly more cool and dry compared to the humidity of the library. Why in the world they ever thought to add a dance floor to a library, Eoin would never understand. But Delfuego wasn't meant to be understood.

They entered a cramped room filled with all sorts of equipment. Extra bookshelves lined one wall, janitor's equipment hung from the opposite wall. At the far end were several books with broken spines and missing covers, probably awaiting prepare or just rotting until thrown out.

Eoin eyed these a moment, feeling a strange sympathy for them.

"Right here," Clark said, approaching what looked like an old vending machine, unplugged.

"Really? Kind of cheesy, don't you think?" Sarah said.

"I think we're known for our theatrics as a country, aren't we?"

Sarah nodded her head vigorously. "Oh, don't I know it. What's the way in?"

Eoin felt a strange sensation and his instincts flared. "Wait!" he yelled and turned around. He ran towards the stairs and looked back up, but they were empty. He panted heavily, feeling strange.

"Eoin?" Clark asked, looking at him as though he had gone mad. "What's wrong?"

"I uh," he said, but he wasn't sure himself. He had the strangest sensation that someone was nearby, or following them. But as soon as the feeling had come, it was gone, leaving him feeling frizzled as though he had stuck a fork in an outlet. "Nothing, I thought someone was watching us."

Clark maintained the stare for a moment more before shrugging and entering the password into vending machine. The door popped open and slid to the side, revealing a man standing the door with his gun held at standby.

They might have been surprised, but they had all expected a few guards. It would have been stupid not too. His friend held out his handcard, having insisted it be his and not Eoin's.

Back on the trail to Delfuego, Sarah and Clark had hung back with some strange conversation. He wasn't able to make out what it was, but since that time Clark had been acting strangely. They both insisted that he wear a disguise, claiming this his relations to the high admiral would threaten their covert operation. He agreed, hesistently, but it all seemed a little too much. He was sure they were hiding something.

The guard looked at his reader as the light flashed green. He stepped to the side and let them pass through. They began their walk down the hall. Once they were out of earshot, Clark let out a giant sigh.

"Well, that's a relief. I guess they haven't quit our identification records, even though it's been a week."

"Probably because they never found our bodies," Eoin added quickly. "We need to be quick. I'm sure your ID is going to cue an alarm somewhere in the fleet."

"I've handled those before. Their identification device stores the codes internally and is updated at a dock at the end of the day where it's updated with a fresh inscription code, instead of a wireless connection. We're fine for at least a couple of hours and then some."

They made it all the way through the hallway and then into a setting Eoin was much more familiar with. The main room was a sort of lobby, but decorated with UF insignias and colors. A set of soldiers stood at the side of the room chatting instead of holding their posts. Towards the front stood a man at a large circular desk covered with a touchable screen. The officers didn't even seem to notice them coming in, probably because they didn't care.

At the top right corner, Eoin noticed a camera on the corner only a few feet away. The people manning it probably would have sounded the alarms by now if he recognized any of them. It looked like the entire "secret" base was too relaxed. They probably didn't even need the disguise.

"We need to access the servers directly," Clark whispered as they started walking down a hallway to their right, saluting the soldiers waiting by them. They didn't even look at them as they passed. It was laughable.

They stopped at a door where two guards were posted. As they approached, they took on a more serious atmosphere.

"Attention!" the first said, a little over dramatically.

"Shut up, Rick," said the second while leaning against the door. He refused to stand up.

"What is your purpose here?" Rick said, looking suspiciously at the three.

They all looked at each other and back at the strangely optimistic man.

Sarah spoke first. "To access the servers?"

The soldier's eyes glazed over as if he wasn't paying attention. When the awkward silence had gone on long enough, Ron kicked him in the foot. "Hey, let them through. They're probably just inspectors."

"Oh, right," he said, shaking his head and pulling back. "Usually they send more people to check the software."

"We're running a little short on people today," Eoin added before they went in. The two men dropped into an argument that was abruptly cut short by the closing doors. He never felt so grateful. Now with them and the servers, and no one around, they could do what they wanted in peace.

"Alright. Eoin, help me get this tablet connected," his friend said, pulling out his computer.

Eoin looked up. The room was large, hundreds of feet in length and width, and filled with large cylindrical towers, each one dotted with blue blinking lights. "We have some searching to do," he said.

"That was close," Artisen said quietly, as he and Eureka stood on either side of the door. He had told her the original plan was to track server lines to see if it led to a ventilation system that they could possibly enter. However, as they were leaving, they noticed three strange figures entering the storage room.

Before they could follow, one of them, a blond curly haired man, suddenly ran to the doorway as if having sensed them. Artisen barely made it up the stairs in time.

"Did he see you?" Eureka asked.

"Well, he hasn't come up yet, so no?" he didn't sound confident, but the man, whoever he was, hadn't come up.

Eureka look down the door, her trained senses kicking in. She carefully made her way down the stairs, studying the shadows that wrapped around the stair hall. No shift in lighting told her the room down stairs was motionless. She descended the last step and carefully leaned her head around the corner. The room was empty, nothing but a vending machine, shelves, and janitors equipment.

"Huh, that's exciting," Artisen said right beside her without her even noticing. She resisted the urge to flinch.

They both entered the room, walking around and expecting the walls and equipment for some sign of a door. Eureka felt her heart racing with excitement. They had to have gone somewhere, and there was no other secret in Delfuego except for the servers.

She heard a knocking sound and reflectively turned around and crouched to defend herself. Instead she saw Artisen lazily knocking on the vending machine.

"What are you doing?" she said curiously.

"It's hollow."

She frowned, "are most vending machines hollow? Even this one is disposed."

"Alright, well it's _hollower _than an empty vending machine. I think this is it," he said, catching her sarcasm.

"Maybe you should try a few quarters?" she said, smiling.

"Funny," he kneeled down at looked at the number pad. "This should be it. Let's see how old the design is."

He punched in numbers. Meanwhile, Eureka crept her way back up the stairs, looked around, and carefully closed the door. By the time she was back, Artisen was on his feet and excitedly waving her over. "I have it, I have it! The lock is one I know and pretty cheap, too. They seem pretty lazy around here."

"Or confident," she suggested.

Clicking a few numbers, the ending vending door popped and Artisen pulled it aside, forcing Eureka to take a step beside the vending machine. His face ran pale, and he quickly glanced at Eureka. The look was a warning. She dropped to her knees and pressed up against the vending machine, watching carefully.

"Move back," said a voice unfamiliar to her. Artisen raised his hands in the air and slowly inched back. As he did, the tip of a gun poked out from the vending machine, which was quickly followed by a UF soldier. "I heard two voice, where's the other?"

Before Artisen even had the chance to answer, Eureka sprang into action. She pushed the vending machine door shut and swiped out her legs. Her attack tripped him, forcing him to fall back into her. She rolled to the side, letting him slam into the ground, and then quickly rolled back. In his shock, she grabbed onto him from the back and wrapped an arm tightly around his neck. He kicked and tried to scream, but her grip was much stronger than he expected.

In a panic, he threw his elbow into her stomach, forcing the air out of her. Her lungs burned, but she held strong. After two minutes of strugglingly, he went limp from lack of oxygen. When she pulled away, her arm fell limply to the side, numb.

"Well, that was impressive," Artisen said, standing proudly.

"Where were you?" she said tartly, trying to shake the feeling back into her arm.

He dismissed the question with a wave of the hand, as if that's all it took. "You had it under control, although this does sort of mess around with our _stealth_ plan a little."

"A _little?"_

"Don't mock me, my pride is sensitive like baby skin. Tender, love, and care, captain. Come on."

They quietly made their way to the end of the hall, the metal cool against her arm as they walked. She reached down and pulled out her pistol. It was loaded with seven bullets, no extra cartridges.

Reaching the opening, they both ducked down. Towards the opposite end of the room was a small circular desk where a woman sat. Eureka pulled out a mirror and held it out to scan the rest of the room. At one corner she spotted three soldiers. She held up three fingers to Artisen who nodded.

"Can you take them?" he asked, nodding towards where the soldiers stood.

She ran the situation in her mind, imagining how they might react to a sudden attack. "I'll need a distraction."

"Easy. I'll run to the desk and disable the alarms. We should still be able to make a quiet get away," he said with a wink. "Don't wait up for me." He then waltzed into the room, casually, and not even bothering to look at the soldiers. In her mirror Eureka could see that they hardly noticed him, caught up in their conversation.

As he approached the main desk, he looked back and winked at Eureka before leaning against the counter. He walked around the desk and sat right down against the console. The woman flinched and looked at him.

"Why hello there," he said in a deep voice, leaning forward slightly.

"I- uh, hello?" she said, confused but smiling slightly.

"Come here often?"

"I work hear- wait, who are you?"

Eureka shook her head. He couldn't possibly be thinking of flirting as a distraction.

"Hey, what are you doing?" yelled a voice from the back corner. In the handheld mirror, she saw the three men get up and slowly approach the man, guns on their pistols.

"Just chatting with this lovely young lady. How old are you, nineteen, eighteen? A little young to be in the army."

She blushed as he placed a hand on hers.

"Get your hand off her and put your hands in the air!" All three pulled out their guns, but Eureka wouldn't give them the chance to aim. She threw her hands up, pistol in hand and started running. She shot the first in the leg, the second in the shoulder, and the third in the other shoulder. Only the first fell.

The second, having dropped his gun, scrambled to get it, giving Eureka the time to attack the third. She rushed at him and swung her leg out, hitting him straight in the face, knocking him out instantly.

Something hot and sharp ran over her leg, setting a fire like pain over her skin. She grunted as she fell to a knee. The second soldier had shot her, and was now on his feet. He kicked the gun out of her hand, sending it sliding across the floor. She threw herself forward before he had a second chance to fire. They both fell to the ground in a cluster of fists and grips. The man got two solid hits at her shoulder and stomach, but most of her attention was on his hand and the pistol.

She tried to wrench the gun from his hands, but his grip was too tight. With a grunt, she twisted the gun in his hand, bending his finger. He screamed as it bent awkwardly to the right with a sickening crack. He pushed herself from him and scrabbled to switch guns. When he switched hands, he quickly turned to Eureka, and then froze at the sound of a bang.

But she felt no pain. The man collapsed to the ground. Artisen stood at the desk, his hand working the keyboard, the other holding the steam barrel of a gun. "I was present the whole time, though I had hoped to avoid guns."

The other girl sat still in the chair, her face pale with fear. It turns out her partner wasn't screwing around after all.

A reflexive wince came as a burn rushed around her leg. She touched her leg where it stung, but felt no blood. The bullet had narrowly missed her.

"Now Sweetheart," he said, tenderly taking the frozen girl by the hand. "I'm afraid I've completely locked you out of the system, disabled all communications and emergency alarms, and also unlocked so you can't keep us from getting around. So give me your other hand." She did as he commanded and then tied her to the chair. "Don't worry. We won't kill you. Just relax and stay here."

Eureka found herself staring at the man on the floor. He wasn't dead, like Eureka had first thought in the chaos of things. The shot had been to the knee, where he was still on the floor, clutching it.

"We should bandage that up before we go," Artisen said, smiling to himself.

"Please don't smirk," Eureka said, trying her best to keep the edge out of her voice.

"I'll try. But we do need to be quick."

Eoin turned from his screen abruptly, as though startled by a loud noise. The strange sensation of being followed washed over him and he felt like checking the room for hidden people.

"Are you alright?" Clark said

"I'm fine," he said slowly, looking at the door as though it were about to open, and then turning back to his computer. He didn't understand the feeling himself so why try an explain it? Instead he continued flipping through the database on Clark's tablet. He felt partly excited and fulfilled, but another part of him had no idea what it was that he was doing.

His heart thumped as he pulled up several maps of the surface of the planet, but it didn't feel right. He pulled open a database of the newly mapped surface of Earth and immediately sensed he was going the right direction. He began cycling through landmarks of different regions, guessing more than anything else.

A picture of a set of mountains popped into view. A feeling of confidence and direction filled his chest and his mind felt clear. This was it, this location. He looked at a name but found it only had an area code.

"NAS520," he whispered as though the name were holy. He began downloading all the maps and information on Earth. Never having gone himself, anything concerning the forsaken planet would help.

"You found it?" Clark said, leaning over his shoulder. He frowned. "Where's that?"

"On Earth, on the third continent," he said with short breath.

"Good, can we go?" Sarah said, peeking over his shoulder. "I have this nagging feeling we need to go."

"Don't worry, I just need two minutes to cover our tracks," Clark said, grabbing the tablet from Eoin's hands and making quick motions on the tablet that Eoin didn't understand.

The light in the room turned red and a siren at the back corner began whaling wildly as if about to burst off the wall.

"What happened?" Eoin said, wishing he had his pistol.

"That's unusual," Clark said, "those are invasion alarms."

"Invasion alarms?" Eoin shot a glare at Sarah. "What did you do?"

"Don't look at me that way, I didn't do this," she retorted harshly, but Eoin didn't believe it.

He sharply turned to Clark, "we need to go."

"Where? We don't have a ship. I don't know if you remember, Eoin, but we walked in. This is it," his friend shrugged.

Eoin felt a surge of panic. He wanted to go back, the UF was his home, all that he knew, but something inside him was burning like a fire, and it wouldn't stop until he finished this crazy journey he's begun. It drove him without purpose. All his life he felt empty, like a chunk was missing. Something inside him screamed to keep going. He had to listen.

"Something important," he whispered to himself, looking at the tablet in Clark's arm.

"What?" his friend said, "what is going on with you today?"

The question shook him from his stupor. "We'll find a way," he said, his tongue feeling numb.

Then his heart thumped.

"Gentlemen!" a voice proudly called from the door to the room. They all turned to see two figures standing there. One was tall, sharp auburn hair spiked at the front with a sharp chin and a smile that looked chiseled from a hazardous occupation. And next to him was a girl.

She was average for her height, her skin not pale but more creamy in its texture and color. Her hair, black, fell down around her head wildly but still smooth in how it came down in a pony tail behind her. But her eyes are what really pulled him. They were a deep oceanic blue, and she was looking right back at him, into him.

"Oh, and Lady," he said, winking at Sarah, and then pausing, only fractionally.

"Why did we come without guns again?" Clark asked.

"I told you we should have brought guns!" Eoin said, smacking him in the back of the head.

"You said we should bring _weapons_."

"And did we bring any _weapons_, Clark?"

"We brought you. You're the next best thing."

"Oh right. And here we are with _two_ armed combatants, and me without a KLF," he said, throwing a gesturing arm at them, "they have weapons."

"They have _pistols_, Eoin."

Eoin rolled his eyes, "really? You don't say."

"You use them to punch holes in things, not necessarily in people," Clark added.

"This is ridiculous."

"Actually," said the spiky haired man who gestured to the girl, "only she's armed."

"Who are you?" Sarah said in a tone that Eoin didn't recognize from her.

The man seemed to hesitate slightly when Sarah spoke, but only a moment. "Probably not important," he said offhandedly, "but you guys don't look like a threat, we need to get out of here as soon as possible, so let's just ignore each other. Fair?"

"How can we trust you?" Eoin said, feeling his body shift into a more defensive stance.

"I don't really see how it matters," the other man said, "we're not interested in a fight and," he said, pointing up at the ceiling, "I don't want to wait to find out why _they_ are here."

Eoin honestly didn't know what to do. He needed more info. "Did you set off the alarm?"

The girl looked up at her partner, and he only shrugged. "I was pretty sure I turned them all off. Well," he said, frowning to himself, "I may have missed the internal network alarms. But I was planning on turning those off once I actually had direct access to the servers."

Eoin shot Clark a glare. "Internetwork _alarms?"_

Clark threw up his arms, "I'm sorry. I didn't even want to be here! This was your idea!"

"You're going to get us expelled."

"That's really your biggest concern right now with a gun pointed at us?" Clark said, his hands resting on his hips. "I have no response."

"Speaking of guns pointing at other people. Can we not shoot you and have access to that server now? Just stay over there and then we'll leave."

"Leave?" Eoin said, the thought dawning on him as the two turn away and turn their attention to the sever. It made complete sense. Of course two intruders would come in with an escape plan. Maybe with enough room to include three more.

"Do you know what you're looking for?" Artisen whispered, seemingly ignoring the three people. But Eureka knew it was only an act. Artisen drops his guard only enough to trick potential threats.

"Just two things, officer records and maps."

"Maps?" he said, frowning.

"Yes," she said. It was just a feeling, but it felt important. "Is the hack ready?"

This time he winked at her and held a small tablet, "finished the modification last night. It'll do the trick, Sweetheart, trust me."

"It has to." She plugged it into the computer. The hack worked perfectly, instantly gaining them access into the mainframe.

"It won't last long," he said, glancing at the three people who still didn't leave. She briefly glanced at the man who appeared to be the leader of the three. "The protection software will kick us out as soon as it detects the malware."

"I already found it," she said excitedly. The database was large, very large, containing hundreds of thousands of names. She didn't have time to look through it now, so she removed anyone above the age of thirty five or younger than twenty. The list didn't shrink by much. She bit her lip, the sirens sounding louder than before.

"Hurry," he said, "we're short on time."

"I know." She then remembered that the man was wearing a pilots uniform. Clearing the list of anyone outside of the air force, the number decreased significantly, but still thousands of profiles filled her screen. It was a lot, but she could manage.

She began pulling up the database for maps and geographical scans of earth. POF had their own records, but they weren't nearly as detailed as the UF's. Although thousands were defecting to their side almost weekly, the UF was still much larger than themselves. The POF wouldn't become formidable force for probably another seven years.

The blue lights flickered and "Lost Connection" popped onto her screen. She looked up in time to see the room become dark.

"The power is out," Artisen said, grabbing the tablet from her hand, "we need to go."

"We can turn the power back on?"

He laughed, "And wait twenty hours while the server's fully boot up again?"

"I-," she started, but felt her mouth lose strength. She had the records of the officers, but she didn't even get to start a download of UF maps. The POF records would have to do, despite the sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Maybe we can help," came a voice from one of the three.

She turned around to see that none of them had left even still. "How?" she asked.

"I heard you say you were looking for Earth maps and information? We have them"

She tensed, "Why? Who are you people?"

"Doesn't matter," said the other man who she hadn't noticed yet. "You're bandits, aren't you?"

"Yes, sort of," Artisen said before Eureka could answer, "I'm Artisen, and this is my associate, Elisabeth." He touched her shoulder.

"See, I told you!" the middle one said, and then slapped his curly haired friend on the shoulder. He didn't react, but instead looked off to the side.

"We need a ship, and we're willing to trade you this information for a lift," said the girl with deep brown hair.

They still didn't tell them why they were there or even who _they _were, and she didn't feel right about it at all. Even so, she _needed_ those maps. "Tell us who you are."

"I'm Sarah," she said.

"Clark," said the middle one.

The other stayed silent, just staring at her. His gaze unsettled her, as though he were looking into her, past her dyed hair and blue eye contacts. Her cheeks felt warm.

"Hey, don't embarrass us, man," Clark said, bumping his friend with an elbow. "He's Eoin. And don't worry, we're just traveling thieves," he said so belatedly that he wouldn't have fooled a simpleton.

"We thought we could sell the maps for a good price on the right market. Please, we promise to hand over the information and then leave." the woman said, her eyes intense with something, as though Eureka and Artisen were their only hope out. Maybe the ships weren't for her, but instead of for them. Their story sounded weak, but they held themselves like trained professionals, except for that middle man. They couldn't be trusted, especially this _Eoin_ if that was his real name.

"Alright, deal," Artisen said before she could open her mouth in rejection.

She turned to him sharply and lowered her voice, "What?"

"What else can we do? Don't you want the maps?"

"Yes, but I don't know if we can trust these people," she said, almost glancing back at Eoin. "Don't they bother you?"

"No less than we bother them, _Elisabeth_," he said, "we're just as suspicious and they'll see the men outside. They think we're bandits or smugglers and they're probably the same."

"Can you tell?"

He shrugged, "why are you making this so hard? We have the gun."

"_I_ have the gun," she said, "what about the Night Iris? We can't bring them aboard."

He touched her arm so gently, that for just a moment, the tension in her mind went away. "Eureka, we probably won't have to take them that far. We have the shuttle, but Eureka, tell me what you want. I'm doing this for _you_."

She felt her stomach chill slightly. "Alright," she said slowly, "we'll take them."

"Let's go, we'll take you to our shuttle," he said, facing them.

"Where's your shuttle," Eoin asked.

"Far. Let's hope you're as sneaky getting out as you are in," he responded, "follow us."

Getting out of the base wasn't nearly as hard as Eureka thought it would be. The base was heavily under guard and the library deserted after the sirens sounded. When they finally left the hidden base, the skies were reversed in their mood and sight from earlier. Instead of the bright luminescence of green trapar, everything was black and dark with the ominous glow of the buildings.

To the far East the sun was beginning to rise, casting a soft glowing blanket of orange over the horizon. A few clouds lazily spread over the skies. But just outside the city, she could see three shadows roaming above them like scavengers, patient and waiting. The cruise ships of the UF.

"I see them," she said as she and Artisen led the way. He followed her eyes to the three dark shadows passing over the clouds.

"Just three?"

"Must be the only ones nearby who could make it in time," she said quietly, glancing back at three strangers. "Still, even three for a minor break in is a bit much. They must have some important information here we're missing."

As they traveled, Eureka felt Eoin's eyes on her back. Something about the man made her feel very uncomfortable, but at the same time, invigorated. She didn't trust the feeling, in fact, she despised it.

She forced the thought from her head with a stern shake. Now wasn't the time for distraction.

The way to the shuttle went calmy. A few pedestrians who must have believed they had nothing to fear in a raid, gave them a few strange looks as the walked by, but said nothing and continued on their way. By the time they entered the shuttle, the sun was rising, slowly dipping over the horizon with its bright forehead.

"That was the easy part," Artisen said as he stepped into the cockpit. The shuttle was small, but large enough for all of them. The three thieves sat in the back while she and Artisen took the piloting seats. "They'll attack as soon as we launch."

"We only need to make it to the Canyon. They won't be able to detect us once we're inside," she said, flicking a few switches and feelings the engines rumble to life behind them.

"The canyon is too far away."

"It's only five minutes."

"Only five minutes? And pray tell, Elizabeth, do you think you can outrun a laser strike or a dozen missiles?"

"If I were in the Xelli-,"

"You're _not_," he cut her off, eyeing her warningly. She nearly forgotten they were in disguise. She wasn't at practiced at espionage as Artisen.

"Then what can we do?"

"An old trick I tried once back in 1998," he said with a smile that terrified her.

"I don't like this idea."

"You don't have to, just trust me," he said, starting to plug something into the communication console. All he seemed to be doing was punch in a few data bursts, which would have seemed nothing more than static to a radio.

She frowned, "I don't understand."

"It's an _old_ trick, trust me, and hold on."

The ship burst off the ground, throwing its thrusters dangerously close to their limits. The shuttle popped up over the building like a flea jumping from the ground. It then shot forward with a powerful blast, throwing out behind it beams of fire and smoke. The shuttle was heading right for the cruisers.

"Artisen?" she nearly screamed.

He just laughed.

"Decant 110, we are receiving your codes as we speak, please stand by for docking," came a stern voice over the communication speaker.

Eureka felt a shiver run down her spines. "What are you doing?"

He waved at her like someone asking too many impertinent questions. "Would you just trust me? You've been nagging," he threw on the second thrusters, "this whole trip."

"We've found your identification codes to be outdated, shuttle," the officer said, "shuttle?" His voice became more frantic.

He shrugged, "the codes were just a distraction, partially. Elizabeth, can you turn off the emergency shut off for thrusters?" he said calmly, pointing at a set of switches. She would have asked why, but at this point, it wouldn't make a difference in how her stomach was twisting. She flipped them off.

The thrusters screamed as their shuttle shot through the veil of clouds covering the cruisers and passed between them. They shot by like an angry hornet.

"Are you crazy?" Sarah screamed from the back.

"Yes!" he replied.

The engines wailed as if begging for relief, and shaking with such ferocity that she was sure everything would soon explode. Both sides of the ship quaked wildly and two explosions threaten to shatter the hall.

"Oh," Artisen said, "hopefully we don't need those."

"_those_?"

"The engines. We should be okay," he said with a minor shrug.

The shaking and velocity of the shuttle slowed, nearly dying into a lull.

"Come on!" Artisen yelled. A black squarish whole opened up out of nothing, and the shuttle gently flew inside and landed with the most quiet thud Eureka had ever heard. She nearly slapped herself for having forgotten they knew exactly where the Night Iris would be cloaked, and Artisen somehow managed to find it.

"We're inside?" she said, her voice shuttering.

"I know, clever right? That'll be confusing the trapar polluted minds of the UF out there," he said, laughing. He clicked a button and the view shield turned opaque, revealing nothing of the hanger outside.

"What happened?" Clark's voice came, "did they capture us?"

"No, we escaped, I think," he said with a frown, "depends on what's going on at the bridge. Elizabeth, stay here and blindfold the three out of the hanger and take them to lounge. I'll be with you momentarily."

He commanded her as though he was captain and she was just a crewman. It erked her slightly, but now wasn't the time to argue. She would play her part, but she would have enough to talk about with Artisen when the change presented itself.

"Sit down, all of you," she said in the same tone she used to command the crew.

"Why do we have to be blind folded?" Eoin said.

"Becauses, you're on our ship, our rules," she said with stern stare, not backing down from his glare in return.

"What if we don't trust you?"

"Irrelevant," she retorted, "you're on _our_ ship, we trusted you."

"But not enough to keep us from being blinded?"

"Why are you whining?" she said, suddenly feeling flustered.

"I don't like how you operate."

"He has a trust-people issues," Clark said finally, looking at his friend as though it were the norm, but Eureka didn't break eye contact with Eoin.

"What is this, a staring contest?" Artisen said, stepping up to her said and pressuring her arm. "What's wrong, you're acting strange again," he said in a low voice only she could hear. "Might want to ton it down a bit… or ten."

"I don't trust him," she said, "we should lock him up."

"We don't have time for this," he said, his voice suddenly smooth.

"I'll do it." Her emotions were rampant, she'd never felt this out of control. Not for a while. She needed to sleep in her own bed, that would do. She hoped.

"Alright. Call if you need anything. And strap in, we may make a launch."

She nodded as she began to blindfold them with bandage cloth found in the emergency kit onboard. They were completely blind as she had them link hands and started directing them through the hanger. Artisen ran ahead of them. They made it quickly to the lounge where Eurkea took off their blind folds and strapped them into the seats.

"Where are we?" Sarah asked, looking around them.

"The lounge," Eureka said in a tone that told them sharp tone. They didn't ask any more questions after that.

Artisen rushed past the doors to where Irik and Sven were manning their individual stations. He quickly took the tactical station.

"Good work, Irik," Artisen said as he began pulling up a display of the three other cruisers.

"Well, when you sent that SOS signal in the databurst, I could only think of one thing," he said with a tired expression.

Artisen smiled to himself, it was pretty clever. When the shuttle was sending their identification codes, he had been rapidly altering to the signal strength to disguise Morse Code in the signal. Irik, thankfully, detected it.

"We're nearly there," Sven said from the communications station.

"Time?" Irik asked.

"Twenty seconds."

"Artisen?"

"Eh, I think we'll be okay. They're about to come about, but I can't tell how long. Maybe ten seconds."

"Can you do anything?"

If he were to be honest, he would say no. Firing a weapon right now would delay the launch before they could gain a sufficient incline and speed. He might be able to launch a few missiles, but it wouldn't reach in time.

"Ten seconds!" Sven announced.

"We're in their sights."

"They have no idea where we are," Irik said, head visibly perspiring, "they'll have to guess several times."

"It only takes one shot," Artisen added.

"Thank you for that valuable comment, tactical. I'll remember that."

"Five seconds!"

"I'm just being realistic," Artisen said.

"You're being pessimistic."

"Three seconds!"

"Well how many shots do you think it takes?"

"I know it only takes one!" Irik said through gritted teeth.

"Two!

"Then why are you complaining?

"Because I would rather die optimistically."

"One!" Sven half shouted half cried.

"Dying optimistically? Do you realize what you just said?"

"I do," he shouted over the burst of warning alarms.

"We can launch, we can launch!" Sven yelled from his station.

"Dying optimistically is like saying I'm going to sky dive with a black parachute instead of a white one. It doesn't make a difference, the parachute operates the same."

"Yes, but a white one would make it an optimistic death."

"You're being serious right now?" Artisen said with a popped brow.

"They're firing!"

"Oh right!" Irik said and flicked a few switches and then pulled down a lever. He had nearly forgotten they were about to be blasted to pieces. "Higher than the sun!"

The Night Iris lurched as it rocketed into the sky, leaving being a massive column of smoke. A beam from a single UF ship tore through the empty air.. They had escaped, barely. Artisen leaned back in his chair, watching as the smooth blue atmosphere dissipated into black. Gravity released itself and he unbuckled.

"I guess you'll have to die optimistically another day," Artisen said, floating to the front view port where he could get a good view of the stars.

Outside, a golden ring of sparkling matter passed by their ship like a river of gold sand. It swirled in wonderful patterns as if they were tassels blowing in the wind. Even after four years, the golden Alas de los Cielos circled the planet handsomely, the remnants of the surface that once covered the world.

Strangely, the feeling brought him to think of Eureka and her strange attitude.

"Well, I have news," Artisen said, pushing back from the window. "We have some visitors aboard."

"Visitors?" Sven said, almost flinching at the word. It took two years to have comfortable conversations with the guy. Sociality wasn't his strength, Artisen noticed.

"Just a few, and we need to have a meeting. Also, I need to talk to you," he said, gesturing to Irik.

"About what?"

"I can only think of one word to describe it. _Newiness_," he said, nodding in agreement to himself.

"That's not a word."

"Whatever, it's about Eureka."

"Is something wrong with her?"

He didn't know. She definitely didn't act her usual mellow tone, emotionless, and anti-social. She was still anti-social, now that he thought about it, but everything else seemed out of the usual, even for her usual unusual.

He sighed, "We'll just have to talk about it, but right now, let's go over the specifics of how we operate with these new arrivals."

"How long until they leave?" Sven asked, his tone shaky.

"Hopefully soon."

Left and Right stood on either side of the door. They both had served faithfully to the Family for many years. Their names and the names of their fathers were known throughout their genealogy. Tremor appreciated their diligence and consistency. They never failed an appointment, never lacked an answer, and rarely seemed surprised. More like assistants than guards. But above their ability to organize and lead there was still their prowess and physical ability.

"Left," he said, beckoning the guard over. The man swiftly and soundlessly walked from the door and knelt beside him. "I think I've found it. Do we have the scans and readings of Earth's surface?" Left gave a nod. "Load them to my personal computer. I'll review them and we'll leave in the flagship immediately."

"When?"

"Tonight."


	11. Chapter 20 The Forgotten Trust

**Chapter 20: The Forgotten Trust**

Eureka glared at Eoin through the side of her eye, if that were possible. Something about him just frustrated her, made her feel flustered, and just plain _mad_.

All five of them were standing around a table in the Navigations Room. The table projected a glowing representation of the planet. She and Artisen stood at one side while the three thieves were standing on the other. Sarah, out of all of them, seemed to be the leader of the group. Eoin didn't seem to approve, while Clark didn't seem to care about anything.

She had read all of these emotions and studied them as best she could. Sarah, however, was the hardest to understand. She seemed determined, yet indifferent about their plans. Meanwhile, Artisen had taken the role of captain while she now played second in command aboard a fictional ship called the Boris. No one was happy about it, but they had to keep a low profile until they could dump the vagabonds.

"You'll only give us the data after we drop you at your location?" Artisen asked, the map casting a glow across his face.

"Yes," Sarah said, supporting herself with the table. "Just to be safe. We'll direct you point by point until we arrive. One of these points will be our location, but we'll not announce which one until we've arrived."

"And you expect us to trust you?" Eureka demanded.

Artisen shot her a look, and she took a slow steady breath and then deadened her face, forcing out all emotion. She had to play her part.

"If you feel like we're leading you into POF or UF territory, you can make whatever course corrections you want."

"It's risky," Artisen added.

"You can drop us whenever, Artisen," Sarah said, her voice flat, "we take the map with us."

Eureka could see him gritting his teeth uncomfortably, muscles flexing in his cheek and he stared at the map.

"How fast does this thing go?" Sarah asked.

"Faster than a Mark 2, Delta Cruiser."

Clark whistled, "Delta is the fastest in the UF navy."

"It's almost twice as fast, in an emergency" Artisen added, "we'll stick to that speed. So when will we be there?"

Sarah frowned, glancing at Eoin. It was barely a fraction of a second, and had she not been staring at the brunette, she wouldn't have noticed. "We need time," Sarah said, "We needed the map to find a location, but now need to search for it."

Artisen stared at her, "How long?"

For the first time, Eureka could see her blink several times, faltering in her almost poker like stare. "A week," she said quickly, too quickly.

"You have four days," he said, and turned towards the door, ending the conversation. "Elizabeth will escort you to your quarters where you will remain until notified further."

"Actually, I have a request!" Clark piped.

Artisen turned back slowly, a threatening gaze in his eyes. His body was firm and his back straight. When he turned to Clark, she thought he almost winced. The stare almost sent a shiver down her back. He was really playing the part of a hard hearted captain well. It almost reminded her of Holland.

"Could we eat?" Clark said quietly, "I'm starved."

The acting captained started a moment longer, then shrugged and turned to leave. "Take them to the lounge, Elizabeth."

Well, almost like Holland.

"Wait," Sarah said, the tone of her voice reminding her of the strange glance she gave to Eoin. "Could I speak with you for a moment, Captain?"

_Captain?, _Eureka was beginning to learn respect.

"I don't see why not," Artisen said with another one of his shrugs.

"Now?"

He paused, briefly, and then nodded. "Take them Eureka, I'll be right behind you with Sarah."

The request was odd, but it was probably only to discuss further negotiations related to the map. She really wanted to be there, but now she was _Elizabeth_, and not the captain. Gritting her teeth and throwing a glare at Artisen too, she rushed out the door, her pace demanding that Eoin and Clark follow. They did. Promptly.

Artisen let out a sigh once the door shut with a snap and hiss. He didn't look at Sarah, but stared at the door.

"Where have you been?" she said, her voice normal, almost conversational.

He laughed and walked over to lean against the wall. "I was hoping you wouldn't recognize me.

She didn't respond.

"You've already figured it out," Artisen asked, his voice curious.

"That this is the Night Iris, the black head is Eureka, and you're not the captain? Yeah, the moment I saw you."

"Well, I appreciate you not announcing it the moment of," he said, giving a nod of acknowledgement.

"How do you know I won't?"

"You won't."

"You don't know me, Artisen."

He shrugged, "I know you enough. You're not exactly in the winning position here and you're not stupid. It is in your blood." He felt a strange unsettling feeling, as if someone had filled in stomach with foam. The word "blood", was something he didn't want to think about. It was his oldest secret, perhaps his darkest. Everything about where he came from.

A moment of silence drifted between them. It wasn't awkward, at least not for him. It felt more like a moment of settling, like the legend silence before the storm, or an omen before misfortune. Good thing he wasn't superstitious.

"Your Dad is sick," she said quietly.

"You say that as if I don't know."

"Do you?"

"Well," he said, feeling an age old exhaustion weighing down on him, "which part? His mind, his body?

"He's dying of heart disease."

He resisted the urge to shrug, but it was useless, "So?"

"Don't you even care?"

"I don't want to talk about this."

"What about Jenna?"

He slammed his fist against the wall, "I _don't_ want to talk about this!"

Sarah froze, her eyes wide with shock as though the fist were aimed at her. A white glowing line slipped down her cheek, a tear. He felt his blood run cold as he realized he had just completely lost control of his emotions, the first time since he could remember. The exhaustion weighed on him more heavily.

"Go to the lounge, you know where it is." And he turned around and left, leaving Sarah alone. She couldn't be trusted, but she wouldn't be stupid enough to try anything now. Maybe he should take precautions, but he didn't care. He just really didn't care.

He went to his room and locked himself inside.

"I'm not hungry," Eoin said as they made it halfway to the lounge, if he recollected correctly. The blue eyed girl didn't even look at him. She just kept walking. "Hello? I said I'm not hungry."

"You have to eat," she finally replied.

"I don't want to eat, is that so hard to understand?"

"Fine." She abruptly turned down a hall.

"She really doesn't like you," Clark whispered beside him.

He sighed. Since getting onboard, Elizabeth had been treating him differently from the others. At first he found it suspicious, then annoying, and now exhausting. She was so obviously mistrustful of him that he found it hard to distrust her. Something about the way her hair moved annoyed him. It moved annoyed him. It flowed freely, the ponytail elegant and smooth. Even as they walked, he could catch the faint smell of her perfume, rosy and sweet. Every one of her steps was filled with elegance. She didn't walk, she nearly glided.

He shook his head, gritting his teeth. She was the enemy, he couldn't forget that. What was he thinking at a time like this?

She stopped and he nearly ran into her.

"Here." She pointed to the door and it opened by the motion of her hand. Looking inside, he quickly gathered that it was a normal living space with a single bed. After a quick look, he shook his head.

"No."

She frowned. "What do you mean no?" she said, her voice harsh.

"I want something smaller," he said, "and no bed. Mat, blanket, and pillow."

Her fist clenched tightly. Surprising for hands that looked so delicate and soft.

"What in the world?" he said, now feeling mad, but not at her, but at himself. What was he thinking?

"Eoin?" Clark said, confused, "what in the world _what_?"

"Nothing," he said, feeling his face run warm. "Please," he said, trying to manage as much sincerity as he could. "I just want a smaller room. I promise that's the only reason. It's a personal thing."

Elizabeth glared a moment longer, her blue eyes searching his, and finally they softened. "Let's look."

They passed several doors, but Eoin didn't feel right about any of them. He felt like he was searching for something, but he didn't know what. Elizabeth was probably thinking he was trying to study the design of the ship, or find an advantage or expose a weakness.

His eye caught a singular door to the left just before the hallway split. He stood there, staring at it. "Is this available?" he asked, walking toward the door.

Elizabeth stopped, having walked on ahead without noticing. Before she reached him, he had walked close enough for the door to open on its own. The room was small and empty, except for a hanger on the side of the wall and a matt and sleeping bag in the corner. The moment he saw it, it felt right, almost welcoming. It felt better than all the rooms at the academy.

"This is perfect," Eoin said, feeling as though he had entered a new world. The room was different than the rest of the ship. Instead of the blue, black, and silver them outside, in here it was white and green, with a small window at the back to look out.

"No!" the blue eyes girl nearly yelled.

The sudden burst of emotion nearly knocked him off his seat. "Why not?"

"It's a storage room," she said quickly.

Clark frowned, looking inside. He then said slowly, "it's empty?"

"I- It's an emergency storage room." She sounded frantic. Since meeting her, Eoin had never seen her act so shakily.

"_Emergency_ storage room?" Clark said, a tone of suspicion in his voice.

The girl stared into the room desperately, opening her mouth as if to respond, but then closing it frantically. Something in the room was important to her, but to Eoin it looked completely useless. Still, watching her jitter as she did now, he felt his heart sink. For whatever reason, it meant a lot to her. She was the enemy, but he guessed he didn't have to torture her for it.

"I'll-," he said, about to change his mind, but she sternly looked back at him.

"Fine. Get in," she said, ushering him in quickly.

"But I-," he said, but the door shut and locked with a dull clank. That wasn't surprising, they had discussed they would all be locked in their own rooms. Even so, what just happened? Elizabeth was acting unlike anything he had ever seen before from her. She was a little angry at times, even rude, at least to him, but never frantic or unstable. He couldn't believe he was thinking this deeply about a girl he had only known for less than a few hours.

In this room held the secrets to the mystery. Whatever they were, it could wait. He never felt so comfortable before. He originally wanted to be in his room so he could begin searching the maps on his tablet, but it felt so much like home that when he lied down, he felt like he could fall right asleep.

It didn't matter right now how comfortable he felt. He had work to do. Pulling out the tablet that Clark had given him, he began to look over the maps of the Earth's surface. Somewhere in here he felt he would find something very important, whatever it was.

He touched the side of his head. Ever since boarding, a weird pounding sensation formed at its base. He also felt dizzy, but nothing too big to bother him. Nothing a good shake and rub of the back of his head wouldn't solve.

Eureka's heart raced. What else could she have done? That room was _Renton's_, _his_ room, not some storage room. Did he know? Only she knew about that room, no one else, not even Irik or Artisen. When the Gekko Go was remodeled and made into the Night Iris, she specifically requested the builder to leave the room untouched. Only she and the builder knew that the room was preserved, but all information is salable. However, she never told the modeler of the intimate value involved. Eoin must know, but how could he?

Several years prior, when Renton's love and her own were first discovering one another, he had slept in that small room. He didn't have much, nothing more than a sleeping bag, a few clothes, and other personal item, like his Ref board. That room was one of the last memories she had of him, a snippet of the happiest moments of her life. The idea of another man sleeping in there drove her crazy.

"You don't have to worry," Clark said, his voice like a droplet of water in the storm of her thoughts. "He was difficult like that when he arrived at the academy. He's always been more comfortable in small rooms, hard floors with a mat. I'm his roommate, and I'll tell you, he's always sleeping on the floor. Weird kid," he said, and rubbed his nose.

Eureka rolled her eyes, finding his voice more like annoying chatter on the radio than helpful support. Clark acted like a good man, whether he was one was a different question. Still, she felt more comfortable with him than that Eoin.

"He can do whatever he wants," she responded after some time.

"Smugglers never really inherently come from easy backgrounds, but neither has Eoin. That guys was born with all kinds of problems."

"And why should I care?"

He only shrugged, "I guess I figured you'd relate. He's doesn't remember half of his life."

She frowned at him. "He suffers from short term memory?"

"No, amnesia. A really rough blow he received as a kid or something was so severe it apparently permanently bruised out the memories, or something like that. He says ever since the day he woke up, he feels like he's missing something, something big." He laughed and shrugged, "not that it matters considering where we are now."

"You don't sound very sympathetic," she retorted, shooting him a quick glare to remind him this wasn't a conversation between friends.

"He's a good guy. That's what counts most."

They continued in silence after that comment. The more they talked about Eoin the more she felt like she needed him off her mind. She wasn't really hungry, but sometimes cooking helped her focus on other things, like Klera's daughter, the kids, and so forth. Ever since the thieves were let aboard, the kids were confined to a section of the ship where they wouldn't be spotted. Kids didn't fit the persona of a smuggler crew.

They entered the lounge and found Sarah waiting for them.

"Hey!" Clark called out loudly as they entered.

Sarah looked out the window solemnly, clearly not present with them even though they were in the same room. Eureka's ability to read people had improved over the years and from the look on Sarah's face, something was wrong.

"What is it?" Clark asked.

She turned her head abruptly, as though hearing them for the first time. She smiled. "Nothing, sorry, just thinking. I wasn't sure what I could eat, so I decided to wait," she said, looking at Eureka.

"It's fine. I'll prepare it." She barely nudged the grudge out in her voice as she prepared dinner. Even as the cooking began, stirring noodles and sauces, thoughts of Eoin slipped into her head.

"How is he?" Sarah asked, her voice sifting into Eureka's thoughts.

"Grumpy as usual."

"Is his head still pounding?"

She felt her thoughts more drawn to their conversation.

"I didn't get the chance to ask him," Clark said, lowering his voice.

"It's probably nothing," she said, glancing at Eureka, but her eyes pointed towards the pots and pans.

"Guy is pretty healthy, like a newborn babe or something," Clark added quietly. "I can't think of a time where he complained about a headache."

"He's human," she said and leaned against the chair, "we all have headaches sometimes."

"I don't know. You haven't seen the stuff I've seen that guy do. He pilots an LFO like it's a part of him. It's like he can read the waves."

Sarah cocked a brow at him. "No one can read the waves."

"When you get the chance, you'll see. He doesn't fly the waves, he moves with them. I don't know, it's hard to describe."

Something mysterious about Eoin was gnawing at her mind. There was a connection in all of this, how she was feeling, the strange conversation, and his habits.

She sighed as she filled two dishes with noodles and handed them to Sarah and Clark. Their conversation died as soon as she stepped up to them. Once they had their plates, she quickly returned to the kitchen to do dishes, hoping their conversation would continue.

She was in luck.

"So you think it's him?" Sarah said, her voice barely audible to her ears. Eureka leaned against the wall as tightly as she could.

"What do I know? He's suffered amnesia most of his life, hates the military and yet honors it, and then abandons all hopes of his military career for some dream."

Her right foot twitched. "_Dream?"_ she mouthed, wishing she could ask more. The vision of several nights before played before her eyes like wispy ghost. It was becoming harder to remember, weaker. She could no longer make out the fine details of the other man's face, who he was or why he felt so important in that moment. She needed to know, she had to know.

The pot of noodles and food came into view, and suddenly she remembered that Eoin had not eaten. A desire to see Eoin filled her chest and she found herself pouring noodles into a bowl for him. She called Irik down to watch over the "thieves" and then left to find him. On the way to the room, she entered the shop and purchased aesthetics to hopefully soothe his mind. It wasn't that she cared, but it wasn't right to let him suffer like that.. Still, her body instinctively bought a bottle of water to help ease the swallow. Probably because it would be something Renton would do, if he were here.

Eoin was surprised how boring pouring over maps could be. He had long since left his room, finding it easy to hack the lock and break it open. He always had a knack with machinery, from where, he didn't know. His father told him it was an interest to him as a kid, but forbade him to indulge it and instead pursue a career in the military like himself and his brother.

Even so, despite his father's wishes, he tinkered and played with compact drives, ref boards, KLF's and, when he was lucky, LFO's. It just felt right.

He didn't know where he was going, and for some reason, he didn't care if he was caught. He felt safe in the ship, as unfamiliar as if felt. Somehow he knew where he was going, and the urge to go there is what pushed the tablet from his hands to hack the door and leave. It was a surreal almost giddy feeling that played with his beating heart. Really, what was he doing?

He sighed, he sure had been acting strange lately. Ever since that dream.

He stopped at a door. Reflexively he pushed it open where inside he found the hanger. It was large for a cruiser of this size. Now that he thought about it, the design wasn't like others he had seen in the fleet. Actually, it was so entirely unique, he began to wonder where these "smugglers" had found it. With the ongoing war between the UF and POF, stealing a ship was harder than tripping an SU.

Casually, he stepped down into the hanger, walking out into the spacious room. On either sides were three large compartments where they apparently kept their LFO's. Some designs were familiar, like the 606, painted orange with some strange modification he couldn't recognize. Next to it was a newer design, a heavily modified 2020D.

From behind this came a small boy, black short hair and pale skin. He froze at the sight of Eoin, stiff as a stick.

He put up his hands in a friendly way. The boy looked probably around fifteen, maybe younger, and didn't seem like a threat. "Just looking around."

"You shouldn't be here," he said, now firm and resolute compared to before. Apparently he was only surprised.

"How do you know?" Eoin said, smiling. The kid looked familiar, probably like one of the recruits he'd know from the advanced academy. The sharpness of his brow and brightness of his eyes told him this kid, whoever he was, would excel in the pilot program of the UF military.

"Because," he said, stammering. "You're not a part of the crew."

He frowned, "and what are you doing here, what's your name? You're just a kid. Not nearly a smuggler's regular crew."

The kid seemed to waver a moment, but he quickly recovered. "I'm an orphan, Maurice, and they kept me on to clean their LFO's."

Eoin chuckled. He was impressed, really. The kid defended himself with such force that, despite how false it seemed, he wanted to believe Maurice. "Don't buy it," he said finally.

"What?"

"You're lying."

"I'm not!"

"Yeah," he said with a raised brow, "you're totally lying."

"I'm telling the truth!"

He threw another raised brow at him. "You can't convince me that you're right by simply repeating it. That only makes me believe you less."

The boy stammered, blatantly struggling to recover from this logical blow. He was a determined kid, definitely, but he still had a little growing up to do.

"I'm just playing, bud," he said, waving at him. "It's just so bored in my room."

The kid was taken back at his suddenly relaxed attitude, but stayed his ground. "Why? What room did they put you in?"

He shrugged, "A tiny thing with just a mat a pillow."

Maurice stared intently at the ground, and then nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. That would be pretty boring."

"What?" he said, laughing. "Why are you so serious?"

"I'm not!"

"It's not a bad thing."

He paused, brows scrunching like someone processing a hard equation. "It isn't?"

Eoin found a difficult to follow this kid. Then he noticed the jacket he was wearing, tan and red with a white hood hanging at the back. "Hey, cool jacket."

The kid's expression relaxed. "It's my favorite."

"Looks custom," he said, "did you make it yourself?"

"No, my great grandpa made it for me so I could look like my Dad."

"Oh yeah?" Eoin said, hiding his frown behind a calm smile. "Who's your dad?"

The brightness in his eyes darkened. "Doesn't matter."

Somehow he knew that looked. It felt familiar, detectable, like a picture where he's memorized every drop of ink. "He's dead?"

Maurice looked at him in surprise. "You know?"

"Just a gut feeling. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I'm getting use to it, I think."

"You're lying again?"

"I'm not!" he yelled, but then his eyes drooped slightly. "Not entirely."

"He sounds like a great guy," Eoin said, regretting having egged on the obvious despair in the kids heart. "I bet he'd be proud of you."

Maurice smiled with a child like appearance like a son. Eoin, despite never having met the kid, somehow felt like he knew him from somewhere. "Yeah, I think so. I took care of her while he was gone. That's what he would have wanted."

The sympathy and curiosity inside him twisted back and forth slightly. "Who did you take care of?"

"My mom," he said, as though it were a matter of fact. Eoin was about to pry a little more information out, but something like a hum washed over his body from behind.

"Renton…" the voice called, or thought, or something into his mind. It was hard to say, it filled his mind more than touch his ears. But he was sure he heard a name. He slowly turned around to see an LFO draped in a tan fabric.

"What are you doing?" the boy exclaimed.

He finally noticed that he was walking toward the concealed vehicle, reaching out towards it. "I-, he started, but paused when he was only a foot from the machine.

"What are you doing?" A voice burst from the door. He turned to see a majestic woman with exotic black hair and exquisite eyes staring right at him, furious, untrusting. Maybe he shouldn't have left the room afterall.

"Just looking around," he mumbled.

The woman ran down the stairs, carrying a small pot of something in her hand. In the other he saw something metallic and heavy by the way she held it. He froze.

"Woah, hold on!" he said, throwing his arms into the air as Elizabeth pointed a gun at him.

"Don't move and stay away from my son," she said, her teeth gritting like a tigress whose just had their home threatened. "Back off."

Eoin frowned, glancing back at Maurice and then at her. She was his mom? That was impossible. She looked like she had just recently left her teenage years, young and beautiful.

"Now you're lying," Eoin said, putting down his hands. His gut said the woman wouldn't shoot him. No goodly mother would kill a man in front of her own son. So long as he was nonchalant and didn't move towards Maurice, he should be safe.

_"I'm_ lying?" she said, her eyes wide with astonishment. "You, you who comes on board claiming to be thieves. I know why you're here!"

"Why are we here?" he said with a frown.

She paused, confused at his relaxed tone. "To attack us."

"Why?"

"Because you want our ship."

"No we don't," he said it as though the idea were so stupid, that Elizabeth couldn't retort, but instead turned red with fluster.

"Don't insult me!"

"I'm not doing anything! I'm just looking around."

"You broke out of your quarters without permission!"

"I was bored," he said with a sharp shrug, "I'm not good at following orders. Last three years of my life." He nearly bit his tongue from what he said, but Elizabeth didn't look at him suspiciously for it.

"Go back to your room now."

"It's boring!"

"That's not my fault! And you're getting a free ride to wherever you're supposed to go," she glared at him with a focused eyes, "and where is that, again?"

He gritted his teeth, "I know where it is."

"Hah, now_ you're_ lying!"

Eoin was getting annoyed really fast, and started feeling his face warm. This girl was blasted annoying unlike any other woman he had met.

"Maurice, get Artisen and Irik. Tell them one of them escaped."

Maurice passed by, clearly confused and bewildered by the situation. He tiptoed past them and then rushed to the door like a frightened bird.

"He's a smart kid."

Elizabeth blushed brightly, "don't change the subject."

"He cares about you," he said, nodding approvingly, "really mature for his age."

"Stop that. I don't _trust_ you," she said, grinding her teeth even more tightly and taking a step forward. Only three feet separated them. Eoin would need less than a foot to disarm her. An idea popped into his mind.

"Then shoot me!"

She stiffened. "Shoot you? Why?"

"Why have the gun out if you're not going to shoot me?" He was tempted to step forward, but resisted it. She had to come on her own.

"I'm not going to shoot you in cold blood," she said, shocked at the very idea.

"But you'd hold a gun at a man in front of your own son?"

Her already pale hand turned white at gripping the pistol and she took another step forward. Two feet.

"Shut up."

"Wow," he said, "that perfume is amazing."

"Are you making fun of me?" He wasn't he really wasn't. But whatever she was wearing was blurring his mind. Never in his life had he felt this unprofessional. And since when did the hanger start feeling so warm, anyway?"

"I'm not mocking you," he said, smoothly. "It's called a compliment. Don't you get many of those?"

She took another step. One foot. Just a little more.

"You're," he said, his eyes focusing on different parts of her face. The roundness of her cheeks. Her lush eyelashes that carved a lunar crescent from her majestic eyes.

The plan, he had to stick to the plan! If he could remember what is was.

"You're good looking lady," the words popped out of his head uncontrollably.

Elizabether was a less than a step, the gun weakly pressing against his chest. They stared a moment, his breath quick and shallow, hers seemed to be the same. It couldn't be possible that she could be feeling what he felt, could she? He summarized all of her fine qualities again, and suddenly, uncontrollably he touched the side of her brow and brushed aside a loose bit of hair. Then he continued until his hand rested at the back of her head. Without resistance, he pulled her into him and kissed her, embracing those same lips he found so inviting.

She held onto him, the gun collapsing on the ground behind him. He held onto him like nothing before. His head pounded more strongly than ever, as if ready to shake his mind apart. But the familiar emptiness born inside of him at seventeen years of age, suddenly faded . He felt whole inside, completely filled, like a light turned on, burning away years of mold and dead leaves, filling him with sweet savory lightness in his whole body.

He gently pulled away from her, now holding onto her waist. She stared at him, those once fierce and unrelenting eyes now soft and innocent. A tear ran down her cheek, and she fell to her knees. He quickly dropped to soften the drop, and knelt with her. Sobbing, she buried her head into his chest, almost howling in some anguish or something he couldn't read or understand. What was she feeling?

"Elizabeth?" he said with all the tenderness he could muster. She managed to stifle a few whimpers to stare at him again, and without warning, she rushed up to kiss him again, her wet lips and cheek fresh and slightly cold against his face. But he kissed her back, feeling for the first time, as best as he could describe it_, alive_.

Artisen rushed to the scene as quickly as he could, Irik right beside them. He knew he should have been more careful. It was stupid to bring two strangers and another person he wasn't sure he could trust on board. Was it his own maniable curiosity that had done it? It was too late now. The most he could do was rush to them before anything happened. Fortunately Maurice was quick to inform them.

The door shot open and they both dashed into the hanger, guns held high, and then abruptly stopped.

Eureka and Eoin were-

"They're-," Irik started.

"Kissing," Artisen said in complete disbelief. His eyes really were incapable of believing what they saw. It had to be a trick, but his body wouldn't take another step forward. Eureka was clinging to him as he held her and they were, clearly, kissing. Even at this distance above, it wasn't hard to tell.

"Did something happen in the last twenty four hours that I missed?" Artisen asked, frowning.

"Maybe she's getting desperate."

Artisen smacked him across the back of the head.

"Maybe he seduced her."

Artisen smacked him in the back of the head, even harder. "You and I both know that's just not possible. Eureka is incapable of either of those things." But then, the thoughts of her strange emotional over reactions from the previous nights did say something was wrong. In fact, maybe she was starting to lose it.

"Let's wait it out," Irik said.

Artisen looked over to see a strange look in his face. He read it well. Irik had, over the last few years, fallen in love with her. Maybe it was hard, strange, perhaps unbelievable. Whatever it was, it didn't matter. Waiting it out seemed like the only logical course of action.

So they both backed out slowly, letting the door shut behind them and made sure no one else found out.

Eureka pulled away, her heart pounding violently but her breath calm and controlled. What had she just done?

"Eoin, I-,"

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, before she could respond. "I don't know what came over me, I just, I just-," he said, blushing wildly.

"I'm sorry too," she said softly.

This answer shocked him. "You are? I mean, you also felt- something?" His voice sounded more hopeful than inquiring.

She felt a smile on her lips as her cheeks ran warm. "I guess I know why I've felt so frustrated by you."

"I really thought you hated me," he added agreeably.

She laughed. Why did she feel so giddy and happy? For the first time she felt in control, but not just control, but alive, full, and energized.

"I think I should tell you something," he said, his brow tightening. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"What?"

"You shouldn't have trusted us," he said dryly. "I'm a defecting UF pilot."

She felt surprised, but at the same time, reassured. The information calmed her more than surprised her. Now that he was being honest, clearly ready to face the consequences, she knew she could trust him. The feeling so overwhelmed her, that she leaned forward and kissed him again, lightly. "Thank you," she said in a voice so sweet, it surprised even her. Why did it feel so right?

For a moment, she thought to distrust the feeling, push it out, but it felt right. Had her feelings led her astray before? Not like this, never like this. These same feelings led her to Renton, bound her to him. Could it possible to happen twice?

"You're not mad?"

She shook her head.

"You're not hurt?"

She shook her head and laughed. "We've only known each other for a day."

"I know, but I feel so-,"

"Right?"

He shook his head and nodded. "Yeah, it's weird, but yeah."

"Me too." They briefly kissed again and then held hands. "I haven't felt like this for so long."

"I can't remember a time ever feeling like this," he said, rubbing the side of his head which he suddenly remembered had been pounding like a dull headache. "Should we trust it, Elizabeth?"

The feelings of peace and joy shuddered inside her at the name "Elizabeth." She had trusted him, but would he trust her?

She would tell him, but not yet. She wanted to enjoy this a little longer. "Let's trust us." She said.

He paused, smiled, and nodded. "Us."


	12. Chapter 21: A Coralian's Last Breath

**Chapter 21: A Coralian's Last Breath**

Eureka never thought this day would come. Every step felt uneven and yet adventurous. Tomorrow seemed exciting instead of inevitable. And, the strangest thing of all, she found herself smiling.

For the last several days she woke up on time, precisely at six thirty in the morning. At exactly six thirty five, she waited on a small view deck at the lower half of the ship. It was deserted, mostly because there was no furniture or important equipment in the room. It was the perfect place for two people to meet in secret.

At six forty the back doors slid open. Standing in the frame was a well built man, blond curly hair, and blue eyes like those of the skies. She almost giggled at seeing him, feeling both mischievous and happy at the same time..

"Hey," he said as he came up next to her, slipping an arm around her.

"Hey," she said in return.

They stood for a moment and shared a brief kiss. It felt so familiar. So right.

Eureka could remember just a week ago where she wouldn't bother with the idea of just not waking up one morning. In fact, sometimes she hoped she wouldn't. During those times the skies felt grey instead of blue. Flying a refboard was only a painful reminder that she would be flying alone. Overall, life just didn't seem to be worth it. Now however, that was all different. Completely different.

"How long are we going to keep this a secret?" Eoin said. The questions slightly dampened her mood.

"I don't know." She pulled away to look out the window. This wasn't the first time he's asked.

"We can't keep it a secret. I think Clark has even started to notice something strange."

"Like what?"

He frowned and slid into the spot beside her. "I smile more."

She laughed and hooked an arm around his. "It doesn't feel like just a few days ago, does it?"

"What? Oh, you mean when we kissed?"

She still found herself blushing. "Yeah."

"I still don't know what came over me," he said, shaking his head gently. And honestly, Eureka didn't understand it either. If Eoin didn't feel the same way, she might have thought she had really snapped. But she had been feeling better. In fact, she doesn't remember ever feeling this good since the day _he_ died. Irik had even mentioned that she seemed happier. She couldn't imagine all this would come from something bad. If it wasn't bad, then what was it?

"I haven't found it yet," Eoin said, sighing.

"The location?" She asked and he nodded. Eoin had been searching several days now for the location on the map. When she asked what it was they were searching for, his answer wasn't very clear. She didn't get the feeling he was hiding something but seemed more confused himself.

"I know I'll recognize it when I see it."

"Why is it so important that you find this place?"

His cheeks flushed slightly. "It sounds ridiculous."

She tightened her arms around his, reassuringly. "Tell me."

There was a long pause, one which was filled with a beautiful horizon just beyond the Night Iris. The sun was just barely making it's away over the cloud line, setting the misty ocean bellow into a burning pit of oranges and red. For a moment she felt like they were flying over fire.

"I had a dream," he said finally.

Eureka's body entire body stiffened.

Eoin frowned and looked at her. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing," she lied, barely able to loosen up the rest of her body. "What do you mean a dream?"

He didn't seem entirely convinced when he turned back to the window, but luckily he didn't press the issue. "It's the whole reason any of this happened. I've always felt out of place Eureka, distant from everything else. The military, my parents, and everything just didn't feel right. One day I had what was like a dream or a thought- I don't know. But it felt so right."

He let out a breath sigh. "Whatever it was, I think it's leading me to this place in the forest. I think I'm supposed to find someone but I don't know who it is. Honestly," he smiled, "I'm starting to not care anymore." His hand around her arms gripped hers a little more firmly.

Something inside her snapped, and all the joy and calm fled from her as quickly as it came. She had completely forgotten about her own dream.

"What was in your dream?" She asked a little too quickly.

"I don't know, it's kind of hard to remember. Is it important?"

She wanted to shake him, but stopped herself. She was overreacting. Everyone had dreams and thought sometimes. All because he had one that apparently changed his life like hers did doesn't necessarily mean they were related somehow, probably. But still, things suddenly felt urgent. She needed to know what was going on and she needed to know now.

"I need to go," she turned around and started for the door.

"Did I say something wrong? What's going on Eureka?"

"It's nothing," she managed to say as she dashed out the door. It really wasn't nothing. Really, old feelings and worries began pouring back into her mind and stomach. She needed to understand. She needed to know if there was a connection. Her mind was waking up after a week long vacation. Part of her heart begged her to charge back into the room, but old military instincts and pure determination reminded her she had a job to do. "I'll see you at 4:00," she yelled back just as the door closed.

Artisen slipped around back around the corner as Eureka dashed out of the view room. Six forty five, much earlier than when she usually left, and usually it was Eoin first, not her.

_Strange_, he thought, but really the whole thing was strange. What did a little break in routine mean? His mind was too well conditioned to excuse the thought, so he instead tucked it into the back of his mind where it would nag him until it was important.

He visibly relaxed his shoulders and let out a sigh. The entire ship seemed to be turning upside down. Eureka was acting like a highschool girl, ignoring almost all of her responsibilities and, "mysteriously" wandering off to do more important things. The normal excuse was to clean something, but they all knew what was going on.

Oddly enough, the easiest part was keeping people from going suspicious about their actions, the hard part was keeping her and the lover boy from knowing that they _did_ know what was going on. The whole thing was a mess, but it didn't feel destructive. He'd been in ships falling through the sky, ripping apart like shredded pieces of paper. Now that was dangerous, but at least he felt like he could manage it. Here his training didn't really cover.

"That's why I don't date," he said to himself and readjusted his uniform. A minute later, Eoin left the room. Like usual Artisen tracked him, moving between hall and hall, silently, carefully, to see if he did anything suspicious. And like usual, Eoin went back into his room and locked himself inside. Nothing changed.

Out of everyone on the ship, there was still one person he hadn't quite figured out, and that was Eoin. Sarah was easily read, he had known her for half her life. Something he tried not to think about. Clark was more than an open book, he was like the summary on the back of a novel that told you everything you needed to know with a glance.

It was obvious by now that Eoin and Clark were both from the military, and for whatever reason he hadn't yet discovered, they were defecting.

He sighed and nearly banged his head on the door in exasperation. It was so much easier to gather information when he was on his own. Jumping from city to city, sneaking into ships, bases, and libraries. He had a wardrobe of disguises and personalities, and looks to hide each emotion or to invoke one in someone else. People said he was the best. He didn't like to brag, most of the time, but they were right.

He didn't flinch when Irik stood up next to him. He had felt him coming the moment he turned the corner. "Anything new?" Irik said, sipping at something hot and warm in a cup.

"Not really- well, not entirely at least."

"And that means what, precisely?"

The image of Eureka leaving early and somewhat in a hurry flashed through his mind.

"Eureka seems _troubled._"

"Sounds like she's returning to normal."

"No, this time was different. I need you to do something for me," he said, pulling out a small tablet from his pocket and handing it to Irik. "I need you to monitor everything that she views electronically. Send me everything."

Irik hesitated a moment before grabbing the tablet. "Are we sure we should do that? Would she approve?"

Artisen laughed. "No."

"Then we shouldn't do- Oh whatever. Yes, I'll get you whatever you require." He sighed while pocketing the device. "Doesn't it seem strange to you, or at least odd?"

"Which part?"

"All of it. Eureka suddenly courting this man, that Sarah and Clark character, and just a general strange feeling all over the ship."

He had been thinking about it all morning. "First off, no one uses the word 'courting' anymore, so knock it off. Also, I'm sure it's nothing."

"I don't know," he said, fingering the cup. "I feel like we're all being pulled or pushed. Something like a convergence."

Artisen didn't even know what convergence meant, but the pushing and pulling felt oddly familiar. He felt as though everything was going a certain direction and then suddenly something was now forcing it all a different way. Whether for the good or the bad, he had no idea. Odd, powerful, and mysterious forces were at play. It almost felt like back then, when the Corallians were alive and involved in ways the human race couldn't even imagine.

"Look into it," Artisen said.

Irik frowned, "Look into it? How do I look into a feeling?"

"I don't know. Probably in the only place where feelings actually make a difference," he said and turned to return to the bridge."

"Which is where?" Irik asked."

"The Trapar."

Over the last two days, Eureka had already viewed the personal profiles of over half of the military based. She had narrowed her selection to just those of the UF navy, but nothing had come up after all her searching. She was beginning to feel more and more lost.

Clenching her teeth, she nearly threw the datapad against the wall. It was all frustrating. Her sudden and abrupt change in feelings and the nagging that this dream she had was important. It drove her nuts, unlike anything else she had ever felt. The image of the man grew murky in her mind, details blurring as though she were viewing it through a bad pair of glasses.

"What am I supposed to do?" she asked. She paused a moment, for whatever reason hoping that something or someone would respond. Nothing did. There was no Renton or Holland to consult, not even the Nirvash. Xellien had become less chatty too over the last few years. Or she simply couldn't hear him anymore.

Then there was Eoin.

Something warm in her stomach stirred. Maybe out of everyone, he would understand and not think she was crazy. He had a dream, afterall?

She slipped out of bed and started for the door, datapad in hand. The door slid open to reveal a tall figure standing there, hand up and about ready to knock. Artisen.

"Oh, so you are awake?"

Eureka froze a moment, surprised at the site of him. No one ever came to her room, not for two years. "Yes," she said slowly.

"I've actually been standing here for twenty minutes trying to summon the courage to knock," he smiled and chuckled softly.

Was that why no one came? Were they afraid of her? And why was it bothering her now? "What do you need?"

"I just wanted to know how your research is coming."

"Alright... Why do you want to know?"

He paused for a moment. "It's sort of affecting the whole ship, Eureka."

She felt a pang. Now she knew why he came. "I think I almost have it."

"How much longer are we going to let them stay?"

The real question had finally came out, and it made her angry. Anger, that emotion felt so familiar these last few days. Why did she feel so angry? "For a while," she said as coolly as she could manage.

"For a while?" he said, raising a brow.

"Is that a problem?"

"No, not at all, except we have no idea _who they are."_

"They're just thieves."

"Are you so sure?"

"I'm positive."

Artisen's fists clenched tightly at his sides. "Alright," he said, letting out a long sigh, his body physically relaxing. "You're _captain_," he said and turned around and left without another word.

Eureka failed. She didn't why, but she felt like she was failing. Now when she walked, she didn't feel like flying, but the panels felt loose beneath her feet, as though about to fall out from underneath. She needed to talk to Eoin.

Her hand hesitated for just a moment, the door before her felt more like a wall than before. So many years filled with memories, and the most precious ones were once in this room.

She shook her head, took a deep breath, and knocked. The door slid open before her hand could hit the metal. Eoin stood there scratching the back of his head, his hair twisted up around his head as though he had just woken up. He frowned.

"It's four?" he said, and looked around as if searching for a clock.

She tried to stifle the panic in her stomach. He acted normally, not a care in the world. It reminded her of something, maybe someone.

Eoin flinched and touched his head.

"What is it?"

"My head," he said, sighing and rubbing it. "I've taken a few pills, but the throbbing doesn't go away. It seems to come up randomly."

She reached up and stroked his forehead. "You didn't tell me," she said, trying to keep the concern out of her voice.

"It's nothing," he said with his smile. It warmed her heart. She stood a moment, looking into his sky colored eyes. Her hand fell gently to his cheek.

"Is something wrong?" he said with a frown, "you've been acting weird all day, and I'm the one with the throbbing head."

She hesitated a moment. "We need to talk," she said, the words just coming out. "I had a dream too, like yours, I think."

He stiffened. The panic in her stomach rocketed into her throat, and she suddenly found it hard to believe. A million ways of taking it back all seemed ridiculous. Why had she spoken so quickly? She should have thought it through, like her training had always driven her.

"Huh," he said, raising his eyebrows. "Really? That's weird."

Her panic stilled, "You're not-," she paused.

"What?"

"I don't know," she said, feeling weird. "I thought it might worry you or scare you away, I guess."

He shrugged. "I don't know. I deserted the UF, broke into a military intelligence facility, joined a group of smugglers, and fell in love with the first girl I saw in the group, all because of dream. If anyone is acting weird here, it's me."

She paused, "It's the entire reason we were at the facility too."

"What were you looking for?" He said,

"I'm," her words felt weak. She took a deep breath.

Eoin smiled, reached out, and held her, "You know that you can trust me."

She smiled too. "Yeah."

"Tell me."

She took one more deep breath and went for it. "I'm looking for a man that I saw in my dream."

He frowned, "a _man_?"

She threw up her hands. "It's not what it sounds like. Honestly, I don't know what it means or even it was real."

"No, it's just interesting. I had a dream where I was kissing a girl. Not really sure what to make of it, but I felt the need to pursue it. And, here I am."

Her heart started pounding wildly. There was a connection between them, something more than just their feelings. She always had an inkling of a feeling, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

She swallowed hard, like a rock crammed down her throat. "What did she look like?"

"Strangest thing I've ever seen," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "Don't get me wrong, but teal hair, purple eyes," he paused, hesitating.

"What?" she said, the word burst from her lips. Eoin stood back, shocked. "What else. What else did you see? Tell me!" She found herself gripping him, the excitement rippling through boddy.

"I don't know," he stuttered, "she had wings, a purple one and a green one. I don't know, Elizabeth. Why are you acting so strange?"

Her heart raced. His words sounded muffled by its roaring beat. It trickled into her mind slowly, the realization seemingly like some distant impossibility, or like the gentle breeze noticed for the first time. Her grip on him lessened, and she studied him. Her mind tearing through the memory of that face, and further. The shape of the man in her dream, the shape of the man she loved seemed to come together. It mixed, the more mature and the younger, and the shape brought her Eoin's.

They were the same man.

Her heart seemed to stop, and she stumbled before Eoin caught her.

"Elizabeth, what's wrong?" He yelled, looking down the hallway, as if to call for help.

"No, stop, I'm alright," she said, truthfully. The panic in her mind and heart smoothed. She didn't know what to say, or how it was even possible, but she felt in her very heart that it was right. And for the first time, she felt the silence and its sting, going away.

She looked back up into his eyes, hoping to see something, but he seemed bewildered, confused, and uncertain. Honestly, she didn't blame him. How would she have reacted were the situations reversed? A memory flickered across her face, many years ago when Renton and her met for the first time. She had had the connection before she ever knew that feeling existed. That love.

Her back itched, feeling the two wings slipping for room. Slowly, she reached back and undid the zipper.

Eoin frowned, "Eliza-," he said but stopped as both wings slipped out. They glowed brilliantly, casting a soft hue of green and purple across the walls and ceiling. Eoin stared in shock, his eyes growing wide. He gently reached up and touched the side of his head.

"Impossible," he whispered.

She let the dream guide her, the moment filling her mind, heart, and arms. She leaned forward, wings bending ever so slightly, and kissed him.

He shoved her back, slamming her against the opposite wall. The shock kept her pinned there.

"What are you?" He yelled, his eye wide in horror. His hand rushed to his head, tightly pressing on the tempes. "Who are you?"

"You don't remember?" She said, tears slipping down her cheeks, whether from the shock or the hit she couldn't tell.

"I-," he stuttered.

"I'm Eureka Thurston, Eoi-," she caught herself, trying to speak clearly, "Renton. I'm your wife."

The look in his eyes sent shivers down her spine. He seemed like a little child, lost and frightened. What was happening to him.

"It's not possible! You're lying!" He turned and ran into his room, locking the door. And Eureka stood there, feeling empty, the silence stronger than ever, the sting burrowing into her like never before.

"Have you ever heard about Ito, the spark?" Tremor said, his voice hollow on the bridge. Left and Right stood on either side of him, their tall forms like black warding obelisks.

"No sir," Right replied, his dark form stiff as stone.

"It's the story of the most dangerous spark in the world. Fiery. Enduring. And Hopeful." A slit curled at his lips. "Sadly, surrounded by nothing but water. Increase the output of the Inverse Drive Pulse. We need to dampen the fields as much as possible."

He sat in the middle of a large circular bridge. In front of him expanded the horizon of their planet, its ocean glowing with the rising run. The stars around them faded into blackness at his wake.

He smiled.

"The scans. Progress?"

Left's giant form barely shifted in the darkness, indicating that he was looking at something. "Yes sir. Your algorithm was correct. We have a lock."

"Well then," he stood from his seat and walked across the mirror like floor. At the edge of the bridge, it seemed as though he were standing upon himself, stretching over earth and space. "Forward."

"That's good timing," Irik said, leaning forward in the captain's chair. "I mean that sarcastically."

The hologram map above blinked red as five blue dots dropped from above and towards the middle, where a green dot, the Night Iris, flew.

The door from behind slid open and Artisen stepped in. "Great."

"I know, right?" Irik said, slouching into his seat. "Is there even a point to this?"

"They're mad."

"How can you tell?" Irik said, sitting up for the first time.

"The attack formation is sloppy. Very sloppy. We could knock down one of them with a decent shot from the wing blasters," he sighed, "either that or they have us mistaken for someone else."

Irik felt his blood pumping as adrenaline poured into his system. His breathing became quick, focused. The odds were against them, but nothing new there. Statistically speaking, they had faced much more unfavorable situations.

He placed his hands on the controls. "Then let's take them down."

"No," Artisen said sharply.

Every muscle in his body tightened before hitting the button for alert status.

"No? 'No' why? The advantage is before us, Artisen."

"I got a weird feeling about it."

Irik gritted his teeth, the flight or fight instincts sparking like a blown wire in his head. "We only get one chance."

"Trust me, they'd be firing right now."

"Then why are you scowling?"

He shrugged, "Because they haven't. That's important."

"Irrelevant."

"Would you stop it?"

A screen zapped into existence in front of them.

"We're being hailed," Sven said, hiding slightly deeper into the communications dock.

The screen darkened and the face of a large man with a black goatee and balding head appeared before them. His eyes were not those of anger or threatening, but fatigued. Irik recognized those eyes. Not from a time or place, but from familiarity. Eyes bearing a long time feeling. Guilt.

"Thurston?" the age old man said, his eyes scanning the bridge.

The bridge was completely silent. In all his time as part of Gekko State, the UFF never sent a communication.

"No, I mean Mr. Thurston. Is he aboard?"

Irik could feel Artisen tense beside him. The only male Thurston that Irik knew was dead, the other, similarly. It could have been a simple mistake, unless he was referring to the adopted children.

He looked at his friend, but the other kept looking forward, his eyes frozen. Those eyes he had seen before, many times over the years, and usually right before something very bad happened. They became to Irik a black omen. He hoped Artisen would respond, but the other remained silent and stiff.

"There is an Eoin aboard your ship, am I correct?"

He waited another moment. Artisen didn't say a word. "There is an Eoin on board. There is no Mr. Thurston," Irik replied.

The older face scrunched like an old papery sponge. "I think there's a misunderstanding."

"No, General," Artisen piped in at last.

Irik felt his blood run chill. "General?"

"Who are you?" said the older fellow, looking at Artisen.

The other stood stiffly a moment before answering, "Artisen."

"Ah, you're one of those. Aren't you? Your name doesn't wear old amongst those to whom it really counts."

This time, Irik found himself frowning. Artisen's knowledge of military secrets and design was impressive, but sometimes it made him feel uneasy. As much as he trusted Artisen, sometimes he didn't know wht to make of him. Only for the reason that a man who knew all the secrets usually had every reason to expose them. That, and throughout his life he had been monitored, investigated, and watched by types like him. Artisen, however, always seemed beyond them, a whole new level of espionage. To him it was more than occupation or military endeavor, it was an art.

"General Marshall?"

The military commander nodded, his simple gesture seeming gargantuan on the screen. "My sources say that Eoin is aboard your ship. And I need to have a chat with him. Do not worry, Master Artisen. We come in peace. The five cruiser are for my protection, not your destruction. "

Artisen stiffened again. Irik hadn't a clue as to what was happening or what anyone was talking about. A glance at the tactical display showed the five cruisers approaching, and fast. Soon, Night Iris would be in close firing range of all five ships. It was a matter of seconds, now.

"Artisen?" Irik whispered as quietly as he could.

"I know," he said, a bead of sweat visibly sliding down his forehead. That made Irik very uncomfortable.

"Artisen?" he said again, a little less quietly.

"It appears, Master Artisen, that your web of secrets is starting to lose strength after all these years."

"Well, the spider never has to support a web with a rock."

The general shrugged. "I'm assuming he's aboard."

Artisen nodded.

"That saves you a lot of trouble. I'll be boarding your ship in five minutes, with good confidence. WarBringer, out." The screen zapped back out of existence.

The whole bridge sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Well, that was chipper," Artisen said.

"Chipper? What are we going to do with a UFF general aboard our ship?" It took all of his strength to keep from screaming. "A UFF general!"

"He can be trusted-ish."

"That's supposed to make me feel better?"

Artisen laughed, "No, not really. But what else is there to do! People coming back from the dead, strange psychic dreams, and now we're being visited by the commanders of a tyrannical army! Seems like a good day to do something stupid. Eh, everyone?" He then turned around and threw a tablet onto Irik's lap. "You won't believe what I just caught on the cameras I set up around Eoin's room. Watch it." He pointed to the screen and turned around, leaving quickly.

"Are we still getting paid?" Svent asked in the silence.

"Why would you stopped getting paid?" Irik said, not mad, just confused.

"Seemed like a good time to ask," the other responded timidly before turning back to his station.

Eoin, Renton, one of them, or both of them, lay on the floor inside the small room. His head pounded with a sharp dull pulse, as though all the blood were rushing into his head at once and pulling back out before he could finish a breath.

His memories stood like pillars around him, gooey and soft, but vibrant and beautiful. They stretched on for infinity, filled with smells, images, sounds and songs. There was no end, but there was no agreement either.

To his left he could see the memories of the past of Eoin, him. Military family destined for greatness. Dark. Alone. And uncomfortably short.

To his right, he saw the memories of Renton. Military family destined for greatness. Dark and alone too, except for a glimmer of something, or someone.

The thousands of thoughts and uncertainties crashed down on him like a hungry wave of water. They pushed him out and then suck him back in again, pulling him deeper into his thoughts, a black endless ocean growing inside of him. The possibilities surrounded him and entrapped him. Except for that lingering glimmer.

How could he trust it? Who was this girl, Eureka. Was she even human? He had seen images of the coralians. Sick creatures with a hunger for blood. They lay waste to cities in mere minutes, not leaving even a child alive, not to say they knew the different. They were monsters.

But Eureka wasn't a monster.

She was beautiful, kind, and her blemish being probably too much of both. Even when he first met her, she seemed as blank as a white piece of paper, ready for anything. And she was pretty cute.

But it was impossible. She couldn't have existed. Those memories felt too real.

He curled up into a ball, wrapping himself in a sleeping bag. The years chipped away inside his mind, one by one. And the pounding grew harder, turning from a hammer into a boulder, smashing against his head.

Ninteen, he was entering school, every day the same. No variety, no change. Fulfill your order, do your best, and you'll pilot the best LFO the military can provide. He could feel the wind patting the windows around him as he flew in his first one. He never felt so free.

Fourteen, the wind rushed around him. He barreled down the hill, racing with his new Ref board under his arm. Things were great. Soon he would be reffing up the trapar like no one's business, and he would one day join Gekko-State and be free.

Fifteen, metal wripping like paper filled his ears, his blood boiling with anger. He was such an idiot, such a child. Fifteen and he didn't know anything. The UF KLF's fell before him like pawns on the chessboard. He couldn't stop, something fueled his anger. Then he saw the arm lean out from the KLF, wedding ring wrapped around the finger, dead. His heart stopped.

Seventeen, again, different. He was on the edge of a cliff. He couldn't feel his chest or his legs, except for a strange warm dampness dripping down his body, red as scarlet. He looked at Eureka before falling back into oblivion.

Present day, his mind was melting. It felt unreal and unstable.

A pillar of light broke through the ocean of blackness around him. He twisted towards it, glaring at the only light around him. Slowly everything came back into focus. The walls of the room, the pillar of light was an open door to the hallway outside his room. And as though someone kicked out his chair from under him, he fell right back into reality.

"Renton," the figure said. A somewhat tall, slender, and beautiful teal hair woman said. He didn't even have to wait for his eyes to focus.

"Go away, demon," he said, feeling a mixture of gratification and guilt twist in his stomach.

The figure didn't flinch. It stood like ward over him.

"Please. Can I come in?"

He couldn't answer. The "Yes" and "No" rolled around in his mouth like sweet and sour.

She stayed at the door another moment before taking a step in. "Can I turn on the lights?"

"NO!" he said, loudly. This time she did flinch. "I mean, no," he said, this time more quietly.

"I'm sorry, Renton. You have to believe me. You have to understand."

Her voice warbled and shallow, as though the room were filled with water. "You're telling me that I should believe that my whole life is a lie?"

"No, no, no," she said, quickly kneeling beside him. Her wings were out. The green wing shined brilliant and true, full of life, while the other glowed an ominous dank purple, dead. How ironic. "You're life isn't a lie, Renton. You've been confused."

"Confused?" he said, laughing. "No, this is way beyond confused." He force himself to sit up, a sharp pound following his head as he went. "I'm going bonkers, Eureka. I don't know which way is up or which way is down! Do you know what it feels like to have the ground knocked out from under you? To feel like you're falling thousands of feet a second and there's no ground in sight? Sometimes," he said, wrapping his arms around himself and tightening painfully. "Sometimes I feel like I wish the ground would just hit me and silence the pain and take it all away."

She kneeled in the darkness, the light of her wings casting dark shadows over her face. "Yes. The day you died."

He twisted around violently. "I don't know that."

"Yes you do."

"No I don't. You could have put those in my mind. I've seen more powerful stuff, you know. I've seen people convinced that they were monkies. The inverse drive, it could do that. It could make you breath even when you were dead. You're a monster, who's to say you can't?"

He felt tender hand touch his shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" he yelled. Her hand flew back, but this time she didn't seem afraid, her eyes were only sad, sadder than anything he had ever seen before.

The guilt stirred in his stomach like hot stew. It ate at his sides and began to fill up into his chest.

"Just leave me alone. Just go away!" No matter what he did, the yell burst from his lips, the Eoin side of him screaming in rebuttle. He curled up on the floor, tightening himself into a ball until it hurt. His body was tired, he wasn't sure when was the last time he slept.

When he opened his eyes next, he was alone in the room. Eureka had left. It was better that way. He really didn't know what he would have done had she stayed. He wasn't sure who he was anymore. The burning at the back of his head tore through his mind. Images flashed through his head, hundreds of them, all different things from his two different lives. Both felt true, but he lived only one of them.

Eureka leaned against Xellien, planting her face into the cold metal shell. Tears streamed down her cheeks and over the metal casing. They wouldn't stop. She tried to hold them, tried to block it out, but the old wound had opened all over again. And it was worse. It felt like a knife in the gut, hot, melting, and ripping everything inside of her.

She wasn't even sure why it hurt so much. It had to be him. But how could she know for sure? Sometimes she wished she were dead.

A pulse of energy ran up around her cheeks and swirled over her entire body from the Xellien. The jolt instantly pushed her back up.

"What?" she said, looking at the metallic creature crouched into its car form.

It stared back at her. Neither limb nor wheel moved, but she could feel the entire intelligence focused on her. She wonder how alone Xellien felt. All of the coralians had abandoned the planet. The reason for having left so many behind is still a question not answered. Then again, only she knew how the coralians left, witnessing their departure into the other side of whatever universe it was.

The jolt ran through her again, more powerfully. Xellien was speaking.

"I don't know that its him," she whispered, placing a hand on Xellien.

The metal felt charged, forcing her hair to stand up along her arm. It felt good to feel its voice again.

"Do you?"

She waited, and then her eyes darkened. "I guess not. How could you? You can't see any better than I can."

The static energy shifted. She could feel it throughout the entire body, almost as though they were one. Xellien hadn't been this talkative since Renton. Another jolt ran up through her body, not from the Xellien, but within herself.

"Xellien, why are you talking now?"

The energy shifted back towards her from the core of the beast.

"Who is calling?"

The energy became still.

"That's not possible. They've left."

The static didn't change. A chill ran down her body and she stepped away from the Xellien. Even though she wasn't touching it, she could still feel the static energy. She could feel it anywhere. But now, she wasn't sure she understood what it was saying.

"That's not possible, Xellien. It's not."

The machine seemed peculiarly still, almost motionless. The cockpit slid open and the systems booted up.

"I can't. Now isn't a good time."

The energy rushed at her, powerful, domineering.

"What about Renton?"

The burst of energy ceased, like a faucet switched off suddenly. It became silent. She looked back at the door, the realization and pain coming back. That man could be anyone. This ship was only a painful reminder of the pain, the loss, and the regret of so many years. Tears ran down her cheek.

"We'll come back soon?" she whispered.

The Xellien's engine roared to life.

"The call is getting weaker. We can't let it get too week. We'll be back, but we need to find them first." she turned and ran into the ship.

Artisen felt heavy. Not fat, just tired. The air around him pulled at him like thick water.

"When is the last time you've slept?" Sarah said beside him. He had forgotten she was there. How unlike him. They both walked down the hall towards the hangar where the General's shuttle would shortly be arriving. Irik and Scott were in tow behind them.

"Last night."

"You're lying."

"Lying is what I do for a living. It's my gift."

She grimaced and her steps became more like stomps. "Even at the expense of those closest to you."

"Now you see, that's what everyone didn't understand. I don't like people close to me."

"Why? Your father? Your wife? You didn't like either of them?"

The age old anger began awakening inside him. He took in three deep breathes, soothing the beast.

"You really don't get it."

Her pace quickened, forcing him to walk faster. "No, I don't," she said definitively, "neither do they."

She went quiet. Thankfully. The girl rambled at him every chance she got. Luckily, Irik and Scott didn't seem to notice their conversation. To his surprise, he found both of them making odd conversation. That wasn't very much like Irik. Things really were going topsy turvy in the ship. Before he knew it, the whole thing would be crashing down in a blundering mass of explosions. It was bound to happen one day. They were a chemical mixture of bad.

They reached the hanger in a manner of minutes. Artisen opened the door to the control room where he could call down for the hanger to be lowered. But when he looked inside, he found that someone had already done it.

He frowned, finding that odd. Svent usually wasn't on top of stuff like that, but he must have thought ahead for once. Something about it seemed off, but fatigue in his brain felt like a wet blanket soaking up his thoughts.

The shuttle came in just a few minutes after. With expertise that usually came with the name of the ship, it glided in and sat down perfectly on the floor. They four of them made their way down to meet the general.

The rear door windows hissed and slid down, creating a ramp for the guests. To Artisen's pleasant surprise, only two soldiers came out of the ship.

"Only two?" Artisen said as they came up. "I'm not sure if I should feel offended or grateful."

"Neither," came a voice from within. On screen, the man appeared fat, but now in person Artisen realized just how wrong a camera can get it sometimes.

The man was huge. Broad shouldered, sharp chin, and a forehead that could take on any bull and win without taking on a scratch. General Marshall stepped off the ship like a king would from his throne.

"You're an honorable fellow, Master Artisen. I knew I would be in good hands if you were in charge."

Artisen shrugged. "I suppose I'm in charge enough. You won't die, that's for sure. So General, what's your interest in Eoin?"

"A father is always looking to know the condition of his son."

Everyone became quiet.

Artisen managed to find his voice first. "Your Son?"

"Yes, my son. Trust me. It seems like I know more of what's happening here than the rest of you. Where is he? I assumed he would meet me here."

Instincts kicked in, thousands of excuses and stories pouring into his mind that would all seem believable. "He's sick, mentally," he said, ignoring all instincts for the first time.

"What?"

"He found out, General. He is aware of his true identity."

"What true identity?" Irik spat out.

"My word. I had guessed, but I wasn't sure," Sarah said, turning away and appearing visibly sick.

"That can't be though. He died. There's no way he could still be alive," Scott said, "they all said he died. Even the POF admitted it."

"That they did, and as far as the POF _and_ the UFF know, he is."

"The UFF don't know?" Artisen said, finally regaining composure.

The massive man shook his head. "I've always kept Renton with people I trust. His identity was perhaps the most dangerous thing that's ever been in my possession. They've helped me keep him a secret, those that were loyal to me. Although some made that quite difficult," he said, his powerful eyes glancing at Clark for a moment.

"How did he survive? It was a several kilometer drop. One bump on the Coralian wall should have killed him," Artisen said, trying to get his doubts circulating.

The general stared past him, a dazed look in his eye. "Certainly would appear that should have been the case. Oddly, it wasn't. I'm not certain how, but we found him. I received an emergency call using an archaic coding system and from below the planet, if you'd believe it. I was in my personal shuttle with two cruisers."

"We flew to the destination from whence it originated. You can imagine my astonishment when the optical sensors detected a falling object from the Coralian ceiling above us. It was so tiny and slow moving we're surprised we saw it at all."

"We caught it in the shuttle. I didn't recognize the boy at first. I'm not much for POF propaganda expert and my military specialities kept me from being involved in such matters. The boy seemed harmless. My wife had died that same day. When the boy awoke, he hadn't the slightest clue as to who he was. My own son had begun to make his own way within the military. I hardly saw him. So I did something that perhaps seemed out of character. I adopted him."

"It wasn't until a few weeks later that I realized who he was. The boy, dazed and innocent, seemed like he'd gone through enough in his life. Only seventeen. It made sense to just leave him out of it. Looking back, I see how foolish I was."

"Quite the story," Artisen said, wanting to disbelieve it, but any idea, however outlandish, made more sense than what he was coming up with. He felt like he should be mad, but somehow he felt pleasantly surprised. Someone has returned from the dead. That never happens.

"Yes, quite the set of miracles. One might think there were hands at work beyond," the general said, his eyes finally focusing back on Artisen. "Now explain to me. What has happened to my child?"

"He was told who he was, really."

"Why am I the only one just realizing this?" Irik piped in, but everyone ignored him. Except for Scott, who began to explain.

"Who did?"

Artisen stared at him a moment, reassessing in his head previous information he had on the general and what the man had just said, and he came to a conclusion. Whether he could trust the man or not was irrelevant. The general was the only man at this point in time who could make sense of anything.

"Eureka did."

"How did he react?"

"Complete insanity. He snapped."

The general reached up and scratched his chin. "And Eureka, where is she?"

The thought came rushing up into his head as the doubt suddenly connected. He turned towards the right and found Xellien's stall empty. "She's gone," he whispered in disbelief.

"Gone? Why would she be gone?" The general asked, following his gaze to the vacant dock.

"I don't know. Irik?" he said, his voice now becoming stern. "Please tell me why the Xellien is gone?"

Irki looked back and forth not hiding how he too just became aware of the absence of their most advanced attack LFO.

Artisen smacked his own cheek and sighed. It was happening. The day he feared would come. Gekko State was falling apart. Without Eureka there was no team, and he was no leader. He had been and would always be a lone wolf type. It's a mystery on why he decided to join Gekko-State anyway. Maybe, secretly, he thought it wasn't all that different. Gekko-state was nothing but a group of outcasts and loners. It's a miracle they made it couple years at all.

Even if they hadn't found Renton, it probably wouldn't have lasted a couple months more anyhow.

Artisen let out an irritated grunt, his mind racing and regathering. Now wasn't the time to think about that. Now was the time to act. He couldn't be a good leader, but he could definitely act like one.

Taking a deep breath, he focused his mind. The crew needed its leader. They were, as it seemed, in no apparent or immediate danger. "Irik," he said, "Get with Svent and track the Xellien to its location. We're going after her." He turned to the general, assuming the atmosphere of one who was in control, though he felt nothing of the kind.

"My son?"

"Do you think you can calm him?

The father looked up towards the steps. "It certainly wouldn't hurt to try."

"Is he really Renton?" Artisen asked, staring at the man. "Is he really who you say he is."

The commander looked own, a soft smile on his face. "Let's see, shall we?"

His mind felt hot like an oven, burning with activity, questions, and thoughts. He was having a hard time discerning what in the room was dark or bright. In the base of his mind his memories boiled like steaming water.

The door to the room slid open again, a pillar of light, or darkness, splitting through the aura of his mind. But he didn't see what he expected.

A tall man, burly with shoulder square and powerful, capable of taking on any beast, bear or wolf. He stepped into the room and stared down at the boy, his eyes filled with concern. Or maybe disdain. It was so hard to tell now.

"Dear boy, what has happened to you?" he said, his voice strangely soft and small coming from a body so big and strong. The figure knelt down and put in arm on his shoulder. Surprisingly, he didn't flinch away. The greyish matter before him took detail as the light to the room switch on. It was his father.

"Dad?" he said, ignoring the chaos in his mind for the first time.

"Yeah, it's me," he said genuinely. "How are you?"

The tears started streaming on their own. "I don't know," he admitted.

His father nodded with gentleness. "Tell me."

"I've been told I'm this boy, some boy named Renton. He and I are the same. And I have these memories, these fantastic images that get into my mind. I see the creatures, eyes, thousands of them. I see this girl, always this girl. She looks like Eureka. I think we were in love. I see people, dozens of them, a father and a mother I lost, and a father and a mother I never knew."

The tears had turned into whimpers and cries. He coughed through his words, trying to make sense of them. He must have sounded insane. "They all loved me and I feel like I've know them. Tell me it's not true. What is happening? Father, who am I?"

His father stared at him, long and hard. Memories flashed through his mind, waking up to see his father for the first time after the accident. The memories were vibrant and rich, as though they had happened only moments ago. And now he saw the same look on his father's face. A mixture of concern, doubt, and uncertainty.

The first time he saw it, he thought it was the worry of a loving parent, but maybe it was more.

"I'm not your real father," he said flatly. Renton felt like he was in the room for the first time. The storm inside his head paused, hesitated. "Your name is Renton Thurston, war hero for the POF, and son of the war hero for the UFF. You were the best pilot in the world, and you've been reported dead for the last few years."

"You're lying."

"I can't lie, son. What I'm telling you is indeed the truth."

The memories rushed back at him, murky at first.

"I don't want to lose you again," the voice was Eureka's, but it sounded distant, muffled.

He looked around. Thousand of KLF's littered the terrain, broken, shattered, and bent. Bullets and guns, scraps and missiles, all laid dead on the ground. Spent. He was back, the day before he fell off the cliff. The day he died.

Eureka filled the emptiness in his arms. He took a deep breath, what felt like his first in months. She clung to him, desperate, apologetic. Everything around them was falling apart. Above them, in the sky, thousands of more KLF's warred with one another, during the rich blue atmosphere into a stale orange with smoke and explosions.

"You won't," he answered, "what about the Xellien?"

"It was also bound by the inverse drive," she said, gently.

He looked over the the monstrous machine. It knelt there looking at them, its eyes somehow looking tired even though it was a machine. He knew better though. LFO's were alive.

"He lives with us... by us..." he said quietly.

"We can't leave them alone," she said, quiet but urgent, "he's changed, just like you and me. We can't let Holland or anyone dismantle it, please."

No, Renton wouldn't let them. Somehow he already felt connected to the machine, something like what he felt with the Nirvash. He couldn't hear the voice quite like Eureka could, maybe someday he would, but at least he could feel it.

A movement stole his attention. A figure stood up amongst the debris, body half covered in blood, face blue with bruises. Filled with anger. Rekina.

His whole body tensed. She held a gun at them ready to fire. And she was going to do it, Renton could feel it.

"Eureka, please forgive me for what I'm about to do," he said, concentrating. "I love you, Eureka."

Without another moment, he gripped her shoulder and shoved her to the side. The shot burst his ears and he felt a pat on his chest. It seemed harmless and it felt painless, but his whole body felt numb in shock. He gripped the wound and lost balance. Agony burst from his chest, not from the wound, but from knowing that he just lost it all again. Just like that. In a matter of seconds the universe had stolen everything that he loved.

His foot slipped.

He fell through the crevice behind him, Eureka's image disappearing over the lip of the rock. Her cries filled his ears and echoed around him as he fell. Every second his body grew colder and numb. Droplets of red floated like dark orbs around his body, splitting and multiplying as the air divided them.

Then darkness.

Renton opened his eyes. The storm calmed. Now he remember everything.

"You saved my life," he whispered.

Other figures were standing at the door now, Artisen, Sarah, and Clark, people from his two different lives. But they were more than people, they were his friends.

"You remember?" the general said, his eyes wide.

He nodded and stood up. His whole body felt light, everything felt light and new. As a matter of fact, he doesn't remember having felt this good in years. "It still feels kind of like a dream, but yeah, I remember." The pounding in his head stopped.

The broad shoulders visibly relaxed. "I suppose that's good, then," he said, a small smile on his face. "Are you angry?"

Renton laughed and shook his head. "I don't know. I have mixed feelings, I guess."

"I wouldn't blame you for being angry," he said, and Renton felt something in his tone. He looked to see the smallest tear streaming down his cheek. "I was selfish. I should have returned you, but to what? I justified it. I shouldn't have, but I did."

Renton reached out and touched the cheek of his father, wiping away the tear. "I'm not mad, Father."

The older fellow's eyes grew wide at the sound of the word father. Renton nodded and smiled. "I remember everything you've done for me. I know you did it with the right intention."

The father's eyes closed tight as tears began to pour down his cheeks. "You were such a kind child. You always have him. You're not meant for a world of war," he said, trying not to whimper.

"That sounds familiar," he said, remember the words of his first adopted father. The two didn't look all that different. It warmed his heart.

"Is that really you, kid?" came a coy voice from the door. Renton suddenly came to and realized he hadn't spoken to Artisen in years. He leaped and ran at his friend, embracing him.

"I can't believe it, you're alive!"

"That surprise you?" he said, frowning. "I think I'm offended."

"Please, you should have been dead the minute you decided to save me."

"Trust me, I almost did. You're lucky I didn't." It was all jokes, but behind the humor, Renton could hear the words of his old friend and short term mentor. "It's good to have you back," he said, that old smile twisting at his lips. Genuine.

He turned towards Clark who stood in complete awe. "I just can't believe you're him! That guy we were never allowed to talk about," Clark said and in clear awe. "Now I know why you were always a better pilot than me."

"No, you're just not that good, Clark."

His friend smiled and nodded, "it's true."

Then he looked to Sarah. "Sorry for how I treated you?"

"If I were suffering from a decades worth of amnesia, I think I would do some crazy rude things too."

"Still," he said, "I'm sorry."

"Don't sweat it. Not every day you get to argue with a war hero."

He rolled his eyes, "I don't know about that."

It all felt so unreal looking at them all smiling together. His heart began to beat fast as it suddenly dawn on him for the first time who was missing from the group, the one he cared about most, "where's Eureka?"

All the smiles disappeared from their faces, blown away in one stroke of wind.

"Where's Eureka?"

"She left."

His heart stopped. "She's gone? Why?"

Everyone remained quiet. Finally, Artisen stepped forward. "Frankly, kid, we don't know."

"She just left?" A sinking feeling brewed inside his stomach.

The room turned red and siren started wailing outside in the hall.

"Well," the speakers cracked, Irik's voice all to familiar now. "We found Eureka. I guess we shouldn't be surprised at what else we found."

Eureka stood at the mouth of the cave. A gentle flow of air brushed around her, almost as if something inside were sighing tiredly. She glanced behind her, the Xellien stuck out like an exotic beast from the bushes and in between the trees.

"Wait there," she whispered before turning back and walking inside.

The tunnel didn't stretch on for long. She found herself in a large craggy room. Stalactites fell down from the ceiling all around the edges, except for a small opening in the center. She squeezed through a few and found herself standing in a perfect sphere cut out. The ground beneath her looked like smooth glass.

None of it was natural, but neither was it artificial. It was coralian.

"It worked," a deep voice spoke from beside her. She twisted around, throwing her arms up in defense, and then freezing as she saw the ghostly form of Norbu.

"Relax, Eureka," came another voice, softer, kinder than the first. She slowly turned to see Sakura standing there. They weren't the young teenage forms that she had last scene. They had now taken on adults, matured like herself.

"You're here?" she said with a quivering voice. She wanted to rush to hold them, but Sakura put up her arms.

"Not entirely. Remember, we don't have bodies like you, Eureka."

"We're not exactly here at all, in some respects," Norbu said, smiling gloomily.

"Why are you here?" she said, uncertain of her own feelings.

"It's a long story, one which may be hard to explain, and perhaps better that you experience," Sakura said, glancing at Norbu as she spoke.

Eureka frowned. Her heart still ached from the incident with Eoin, and at the same time she felt confused and afraid. Perhaps she had gone crazy. Maybe none of this was real.

"Relax," Sakura said, bearing the smile of a mother and then reaching out to stroke Eureka's cheek. She could feeling the tender fingers.

"I thought you said we couldn't touch?"

"You can't touch us," she said, "but we can touch you. I know you're worried, but I promise that you'll understand everything soon. If you feel ready."

"What is it I must do?"

Sakura turned her head to the center of the room. Eureka looked to see a pedestal bearing some strange crystal like object. It glowed a soft purple and from it she could feel a pulsating energy, almost as if it were alive.

"What is it?"

"Coralian technology," Norbu replied, "it holds memories."

"Of who?" she said. Something about it seemed familiar.

"Yours," Sakura whispered.

She felt her heart beating as she moved towards it. For whatever reason, it didn't scare her. "What memories? Before I took a human form?"

Norbu shook his head. They walked alongside her, joining her in the journey to the crystal. "Of a life you once lived here, and one you may have lived at another time."

"Does it hurt?"

"Sometimes it will, some times it won't. The device helps to relive those memories all in a moment, but to you, it will feel like a lifetime."

Eureka stopped, the crystal only a touch away. "Is it worth it?"

They both circled around, standing on the opposite side, facing her.

"It will save them all, Eureka. Everyone," Sakura whispered.

"How many memories? How long?"

"Nearly eight years."

A cold chill ran up her back and she reached out a hand. She didn't know why she was so willing when she felt so much fear. She didn't understand how any of this was possible, but something inside her drove her, lifted her hand and pulled it to the device. For a second, she felt like she and whatever was inside, were the same.

"Yes, I'll do it."

She touched the crystal.

And she pulled it away.

It all happened, all over again. Nothing like a dream, but a life. Nearly a decade of time, experience, history, and stories. All of it came at her like a tsunami, one drop at a time.

And yet, as she looked around, not a second had passed as though she had never left. Eight years experienced where felt every second, of every minute, of every day. She felt like she had traveled through time, and yet her memories of before coming into the cave were as fresh as they were before she lived the experience. It was hardly something she could comprehend.

"I'm alive," she said.

"It's an interesting sensation, to say the least," Norbu chimed.

Eureka had to admit, it was surreal. She had experience eight years, all of them. Years of sorrow and dread trying to survive the death of Renton. Battles, hundreds of them. The waking war, waning in power, always shifting and changing. And then meeting Eoin, then much wiser and more in control than she was or is now.

Time felt strange. For just a moment, it felt like time were insignificant and irrelevant, a figment of the imagination generated by weaker minds unable to cope with the stimulation of life. It was an excuse and it was also a reason. The heavy weight of realization piled upon her head. In a moment, she had completely changed, yet it felt like no moment at all. She really had lived it.

"Am I in the past?" she asked, trying to gather herself. There were no verbs or nouns for this kind of feeling.

"The memories you experienced are a future that will never happened.

"But I'm here now," she said, flexing her hands. She was younger. Much younger. But then, she had never aged. "How is this possible?"

"Coralians store and transfer memories in the only way they know how, stimulation. Other methods tend to damage the human body. You had to experience it to survive it."

Eureka nodded, still feeling strange. But she also felt peace, a lot of it. Moments before she felt more pain than she had ever experienced before in her life. Now she felt only peace. It was incredible. Because now she understood everything.

"I think I'm beginning to understand. It's so confusing. I feel as though I've traveled, but these memories are from a life I've not lived?"

"Most of them are, yes," Norbu said.

"I'm remembering now. The plan worked."

"Only just in time," he said, looking out the mouth of the cave. "You're short on time. There's only a day left."

"Then it's started? But Renton's not here. I don't know how to get there on my own."

"You must go to him quickly," Sakura said.

"What about his memories?" she said, looking back at them urgently. "He's confused, and I think mentally ill. Will this heal him?"

She nodded, "it most likely will. This device is capable of many things. But its life energy is short, as it does not obey the same laws of time as we do. Once it's gone, so will be his memories and the last of the living coralians on this planet."

"It will be dead," Eureka said, staring at it.

"It is, in its own timestream, a very old creature. But it is happy to have fulfilled its purpose before it passes. It truly is weak, Eureka. You must go."

Norbu stared at the ceiling. "You must go now. He knows!"

"Who know-," she could barely get the words out when the cave shook. Rocks, dust, and pebble began pouring down around her.

"Eureka, you must go now!" Sakura yelled.

"But, the crystal. What about both of you?"

Both of them smiled and they joined hands. "We're already safe. Go, trust yourself, trust in Renton. Don't worry, you'll know what to do."

Their images faded into nothing. Eureka hesitated one moment more before running out of the cave. When she found Xellien, it's cockpit was already open, engine running.

With eight more years of combat experience and piloting at her finger tips, she felt more ready than ever to take on her only chance of saving Renton.

Tremor stood at the bridge of the ship, overlooking the many mountains and trees. Missiles poured out from their cruiser, slamming into the mountains, obliterating all plant life and whatever else could have been there.

He smiled gleefully. It was a beautiful display indeed.

"The signal?" he asked.

"Weak sir, very. We're unable to pinpoint its exact location," an officer said from the crew pit.

"Keep firing until it is completely neutralized." He smiled. With his plan coming as close as it was now to fruition, for the first time, he was feeling a little impatient to start production in all other facilities. The next three would probably take another eight years. He could wait. His victory will be realized.

Renton gripped the railings so tightly he thought they might break. Outside he could see the massive cruiser attacking the mountain side, obliterating anything on the surface.

The cruiser itself was huge and in the shape of a giant "V". Six cannons poked out of either side, unleashing a storm of fire across the surface. Anything under, over, or around it would be dead. After all this time, he had lost her again. Slipped right from his fingers.


	13. Chapter 22: Never Hopeless

**Chapter 22: Never Hopeless**

The fire and ash fell down around her like a wild hail storm, pelting everything with hot molten energy. The world felt as though it has turned inside out. Eureka took a deep breath and laid her hands on the controls.

Her mind calmed, years of forgotten and remembered experience pouring into her young body, muscles memories coming back to life. When she lifted her eyes to the chaos, she felt no fear. She never felt more alive. She rammed the wheel forward and Xellien burst from the ground, dancing between the flames and explosions. Laser bolts rained around her, but she glided between them, twirling within inches of a deadly beam. The chaos, after years of torment, had become her playground.

Within a couple of seconds she broke through the fiery chaos to see a large "V" shaped ship above her, cast in some dark purple metal. On its side were six massive cannons, probably two times the width of the Night Iris in length. Light spilled out so bright that it lit up the mountainside with each blast and turned the skies dark comparatively.

Her muscles tensed. In all of her past and what would have been future experiences, she had never seen such weapons. She glanced down at the controls, certain basic sensors reading energy emissions. The rectangular meter span wildly, with each shot sending it wildly into the red area and off the scale. Not even a single cruiser dedicating each engine to a one cannon would put out enough energy, let alone six at once.

She shivered. This must have been the fears of Sakura and Norbu, the ghostly reflections she saw in their eyes. How was it generating enough energy? Where were they pulling it from?

One of the canons slid towards her, the inside glowing a haunting red. She cursed and dived right just as the blinding beam of light swallowed the horizon, as though the sun had charged into the earth. Air rushed out of her lungs as she spun out of control, her training barely keeping her conscious as she attempted to right herself.

The sky and fire became one, like oils spinning together on a canvas. Alarms yelled into her ears and the cockpit turned a deep red. She barely managed to glance at the Exoskeleton Status, nothing was damaged, but the heat shield built into the armour had completely melted off the right side of Xellien. One more blast, a near blast, would finish her.

Instincts kicked in.

She seized control of the Xellien, forcing it forward, out of the range of the cannons. The fire and skyed split back into their separate selves.. She could see forward again. Xellien sped forward, keeping close to the ground. Fortunately, because of their massive size, none of the cannons could keep up with her.

She managed to get under the ship, outside of the cannons. She inhaled once again, taking in all the air she could. "Well done, Xellien," she whispered, as though speaking to an old friend. "We can do this. They don't know what we're up against."

She felt a reaffirming and familiar emission of energy from Xellien all around her. She swerved up, slowly climbing up the trapar and towards the belly of the ship. Dozens of purple lines spilled out from the inside of the ship and dozens more followed, followed by dozens more, all charging towards her.

It looked like they understood very well.

Tremor tapped the side railing with his finger as he stared at the view screen. The world renowned LFO surfed and dodged the missiles and lasers aimed at her. She was running, fast and well, but not even the world's most skilled LFO pilot can escape over sixty KLFs charged with his new technology.

"Make sure no harm comes to her," he said to Right. "We'll need her alive. Mother always knew best."

"What of your brother?" he said. Tremor glanced at another screen, feeling nothing as he looked at the Night Iris approaching from far away.

"The Signal?"

"No sign of it. I believe it is safe to say that it has been neutralized."

Tremor smiled, "I concur. Destroy the other vessel."

"Yes, Master Tremor."

"Commander," Left said, stepping up to him. He wore a hard scowl that never seemed to leave his face. "Did we schedule the arrival of five UF cruisers?"

Tremor riased a brow, "who?"

"Warbringer Sir and other cruisers in his fleet," Left said, hard faced.

Tremor's smile tightened, "So father has come to play?"

Renton watched in a mixture of horror and awe as the Xellien weaved through the hailstorm of fire and missile. His grip on the rails numbed his finger. He didn't have anything. Not the Xellien, not even the Nirvash. The entire mountain looked like a giant smoldering heap of coal, ready to melt.

He turned around, looking at the circular bridge behind him. He stepped up a set of stairs on either side of the command chair to where Irik and Artisen argued.

"It's suicide," Irik sputtered, his right hand gripped into a fist and his left speedily working a computer pad on the right.

"We can provide her cover. Cut a hole for her."

"Not even you can have that kind of precision, Artisen," Irik said, glaring at him.

"The ship is turning!" Sven yelled from his terminal. Renton noticed for the first time just how small the crew was. Just the three of them. How did they manage it? "It's turning fast, very fast!"

"I just don't understand these readings," Irik said, wiping his increasingly sweaty forehead. "The ship is emitting some kind of field. The trapar around it is wrong."

"Wrong?" Artisen said, frowing.

"I don't know how else to describe it," he flinched, " we're in range of the guns!" Artisen lept from the second level balcony onto the first and rushed to the piloting station. Renton gritted his teeth and ran for the handle bars, holding on as tightly as he could.

"We're in sights!" Sven yelled frantically, his voice cracking."They're firing"

"Artisen!" Irik yelled.

The ship twisted and dove to the right and then twirled back down, speeding towards the earth. Not a moment later, all the screens and the viewport turned a blinding white, completely washing out any detail in the room. Renton shielded his burning eye as everything plunged to darkness, with only a red flashing light giving them anything to look at.

Gravity dissappeared. Renton clung to the railling as the whole world span, flipping him back up and then slamming him into the floor. Up became down, the swerved to the side, before violently righting itself again.

"Main Power is down! I'm blind! Irik, do somethign!" Aritsen's voice was a bear whisper over the wailing winds.

Renton felt like a ragdoll in the chaos, tossed about with no ground, completely blind, and the only sound the roaring wind.

"Got it!" Irik voice yelled.

All the black screens booted back to life, filling the room with light from the outside Their ship span wildly to the earth.

Renton, in the light, managed to wrap his legs around a poll and ground himself. His stomach turned as the centripetal forces pulled him to the right.

The ship rocked hard as they abruptly slowed. Renton nearly flew from his place. He caught a glance at the screen and his heart plummeted into his stomach. The ground rushed at them.

"Fifteen second until impact!" Sven yelled.

Renton panicked. He looked to his right and saw an unoccupied seat. With a glance at the screen, they were slowing fast enough to break out of the made spin, but enough for him to move. He rushed up the railing, like climbing a large ladder.

"Ten seconds!"

"Land it! Land it!" Irik yelled.

"I can't get- I can't get a hold!" Artisen's voice became lost.

Renton scrambled. He gripped onto the armrest of the seat and pulled himself into the side. He gave silent thanks for the larger muscles lent to him by all his training in the academy.

"Five seconds!"

"I can't stop it!"

Renton's fingers fumbled, the chaotic spin and his own panic keeping him from thinking straight. He stopped, taking a deep breath. He wasn't the scrawny little sixteen year old the many years before. He was much more now, and he had to buckle in, or the impact might kill him.

His hands steadied and he locked the belt in place.

The ground slammed into them, throwing them into darkness.

Something crackled hauntingly, like a crumpling paper blown by the wind. Renton opened his eyes which felt like they had been left in the open sun for hours. Everything was hot. Very hot.

He coughed and became aware of everything around him. The crackling had been flames, lots of flames, all over the bridge. He turned to see a large pointed rock protruding through the main view port. They had crashed, but ships were built for crashes of this kind. Why hadn't the fire suppressants activated?

The image of spinning in the darkness rushed back to his mind. Of course, the computer probably hadn't fully booted up.

He undid his buckle and rubbed his stomach. It ached tremendously, but nothing felt too tender beyond a major bruise. He was probably alright for now, at least.

Climbing out of his seat, he noticed that they had at least landed level with the ground. The flames were intense, and growing. He was completely cut off from the other side of the bridge, a wall of fire separating him, and the smoke blocked his vision. The crash cut him off from the others. He had no other choice. Crouching down and peering under the falling ceiling of smoke, he saw a door. It was his best chance.

He made for the door.

She felt caught in the middle of a swarm of bees. They were everywhere. Missiles charged at her from every angle, beams of light doubly so. There was no escape. She was trapped.

Her blade sliced through another KLF, sending its two limp halves back down to the flaming earth below. Two more tooks its place. The skin on her hands grew tough and numbe. Her ankle began to ache, pressing down on the pedal with such precise movements. Above all, her mind was taxed to its limit. She simply couldn't think about anything else other than survive, let alone how to escape.

Three KLFs charged her front. She surfed to the right, dove up, and then flipped back down, smashing her massive ref board atop the KLF. The force snapped the spine and send it down. She quickly span, moving left, and sliced through the second. It too fell, but not before grabbing the gun it held. Then she detached the the board and jumped off, soaring through the air. Xellien fell under the last close enemy KLF which twisted down and aimed at her, but it was too late. She pumped the cockpit area with a few rounds of solid metal, and then threw the gun, finishing it. Then she let herself fall.

The falling feeling relaxed her. It gave her a moment of peace as she fell from the cloud of chaos and only had to worry about the ground beneath her.

"Xellien, I don't know if I can go for much longer." She must have been fighting for an hour already. A drop of blood ran down her arm. Had she gripped the handle that tightly?

The swarm of KLF twisted down, dozens and dozens of them. The three felled enemies hadn't even made a dent. She may be the best LFO pilot alive, but against these odds, maybe it didn't matter.

At the corner of her eye something fell beside her, splashing brilliant green. Her aim had been perfect. She grabbed the Ref board and landed on top of it, splashing back into the air and curling up.

She looked around, looking for an escape of some kind, but there was nothing. The grounds were aflame, the massive guns above her kept her from escaping to the sides, and the massive swarm of KLFs prevented her escape to above.

There was nothing. She was trapped, and her mental and physical reserves were dwindling. But maybe she could hold out for the Night Iris to catch up, wherever it was. She had to hold out until then, for Renton. He would come, he always did. She could handle sixty, or even a few hundred KLF's.

The doors to the V shaped ship slid open, and dozen more splashing purple streams spilled out. An alarm sounded and an alert popped on her screen, warning her of the new approaching units which weren't KLF's. They were Slave Units.

Renton fiddled with the mechanism. He stood in a dark hall, with only a few red backup lights giving him anything to see. The walls were cracked and warped. What was once a straight, clean, polished hallway was now a twisted tunnel. He barely made it up.

His travels through the ship showed him that this had indeed once been the Gekko-Go. The layout was relatively the same, with a few alterations, the biggest being the bridge. But overall, he knew where he was going, and hopefully would soon find himself on hallways before the hanger. Others would most likely be meeting there.

He took two wires and tied them together. A spark burst from the panel and the door slid open. Perfect. He still had a knack for mechanics and electrical engineering.

The next hall was better kept, with only the ceiling panels littered across the floor and wires hanging down. He carefully stepped between the more dangerous ones and stopped, recognizing the door on the left. It was the kitchen. He remembered that place. So many fond memories. His heart sank. That's all they would be now.

The door banged in front of him. He nearly jumped a foot where a particularly dangerous wire hung exposed.

"Help!" a familiar voice yelled through the door.

He quickly worked the automatic lock. Scorch marks covered the controls. He grabbed the panel and ripped it off, exposing the door gear. He found the emergency latch and disengaged the autolocks. He then grabbed the bar and pulled, forcing the door to crack open just an inch.

"Hello?" Scott yelled through the door. A set of fingers peaked through. Renton rushed over and grabbed one side.

"Help me pull!" They pulled together, opening it enough for him to slide through.

"Eoin, sorry, I mean Renton!" Scott said. His uniform was partially burned black all around, like he had narrowly escaped an explosion. Blood ran down his forehead. "What happened?"

"Honestly," Renton said, thinking back to the crash. It had all happened so fast. Were they hit? "I don't know."

"Sarah is knocked out," Clark said, swallowing. "It doesn't look too bad. Probably just some bad bruises."

Renton peaked inside. The kitchen was a disaster. Food sprayed across the floor and walls like a nasty sneeze. One side of the room was covered in a few flames, slowly growing. If the rest of the ship were like this, they were in serious trouble.

Sarah lay on a makeshift bed on the floor, made pillows from the couch and curtains on the wall.

"We need to get out of here fast."

"I can't imagine why we would need to," Scott said, "it's just a few flames inside of a ship pumped full of all kinds of flammable fuels."

"Clark," Renton said coolly.

"Sorry," he said honestly, shaking his head as though from a daze. "The blast sort of brang out my sarcastic side. Where can we go?

"The hanger. It's just down the hall."

"Shouldn't we try getting off the ship?"

Renton nodded, "That's the the idea, but the hanger in the emergency meeting location incase something were to happen. If it hasn't change in the last decade, that's where everyone else will be. Also, I don't really trust any of the evacuation ducks."

Clark nodded slowly, "You're right."

They both entered in the room and Renton quickly rushed to the window. Outside, the sky was clear. He clenched his teeth. The window pointed away from the battle, meaning the entire ship had landed at the wrong able. He wouldn't be able to see what was going on until they left the ship entirely, unless he risked crossing over to the other side. His military instincts stilled his old childish and impulsive desire to do that.

"Let's move fast," he said, turning from the window, further driven by training. For the first time, he was grateful for the academy.

Renton helped Clark lift Sarah onto his back and then they both made their way to the hanger.

It was worse in the hanger. Half lights flickered, their connections to emergency power damaged in the crash. The right side had completely warped, as though a giant had almost punched through. A few LFOs lay lopsided on the opposite wall, joints springing from their half transformed car forms. A total mess, and not a soul was found in the room.

Renton sighed, trying to keep his irritation at bay. Ahead a sliver of light shined through. They walked forward and found the hanger doors had been damaged, a large gap just big enough for a body to squeeze through. They spent the next half hour squeezing the crack and out into the open air.

A rush of cool air passed over them and a gentle breeze. They had made it to the outside alive.

"Renton?" A voice called from above.

Artisen stood on an outcropping of rocks along with a few other familiar faces, including Irik, Sven, and other members of the crew he apparently hadn't met yet. However, two faces popped out from behind him, a young blond girl and a small tanned skinned boy. Maeter and Linck. Their eyes grew wide.

"Papa?" they both said.

They leaped down from the rocks, nearly knocking Artisen from the edge and ran at him. Renton felt a push to do the same. He fell to his knee, scraping along the rocks, probably bruising his legs, but he didn't care.

Maeter and Linck fell into his arms. He held them tightly, feeling a tear run down his cheeks. The time lost, those years spent as some other person, never felt so long ago.

"I'm back," he whispered.

"We missed you," Maeter said, eyes wet with tears. "We thought you died!"

A cold chill ran down his back. He did, in a way. But warmth filled his chest and he swallowed the feeling. "I guess I'm just not very good at staying dead!"

They both laughed, "It is you!" Linck cried.

"Of course it is," and we're never leaving any of your ever again.

"Where's Mama, then? Isn't she with you?" his daughter inquired, the question like a hammer to his head, waking him from a dream.

"Mama," his voice mouthed.

"Renton," Artisen said. He climbed down from the rock, landing next to them. "We need to have a meeting."

He nodded and stood up.

The three of them, Irik, Artisen, and Renton stood around a small rock, the highest they could find away from the rest of the crew. From here he could see the battle, but only to disappointed him. The battle was too high and too far away. All he could make out was a far distant ship covered in a few flashes of an explosion.

"General Marchale was able to get off the ship and well away before we were hit," Artisen continued. The meeting had already gone on for an hour, having just finished all the damages to what they called the Night Iris.

"Not that it did him much good," Artisen finished.

Renton lowered his gaze to the horizon around hem. The Night Iris dodged the blast, but the heat of the beam had melted off the Reflective Trapar Panel. He felt a coldness in his stomach. Trapar Panel were extremely heat resistant, he didn't want to know how the beam had exerted that much in light alone to melt them off without a direct hit.

Three large pillars of smoke spiraled into the sky just beyond them, each from a fallen UF cruiser. Two were moderately damaged. He felt a twist in his stomach. The third sat in two halves, sliced through the middle. The beam had ripped through the ship in one solid blow. No one could survive that.

But he did recognize their shapes and designs.

"My father is alright," Renton said, nodding. Both Irik and Artisen looked up. "None of those ships are the War Bringer." He looked back up at two barely noticeable specks in the sky. "He flew out of range of the cannons."

"Speaking of which, how did that happen?" Artisen said in a tone that made it sound like it were Irik's fault.

Irik sighed, "I don't know. I simply don't, well, not entirely."

Artisen raised a brow.

Irik raised his hand defensively. "A theory. Our weapons technology, or at least in the UF, for many years has been limited by energy. We simply haven't been able to generate enough energy from the reactors. While studying my father's design of the Inverse Drive, I had a theory."

"The drive in its ability to manipulate Trapar could also pull and push that trapar. If that's true, then there is nearly an infinite source of energy available to, well, whatever needs that kind of power. It would be very sophisticated. The technology would require microscropic paneling using modified Trapar Panels that exhibit the same qualities as an inverse drive."

"Is that why it's purple?" Renton said, staring at the distant "V" in the sky.

They followed his gaze. "Perhaps."

Renton felt something in his stomach. The echoes of the dream came to his mind along with something else. An urgency he couldn't explain. "We have to stop it."

"We're shipless, Renton. And I don't see what it matters. That ship could take on a hundred cruisers at once," Artisen said.

"Trust me," Renton said, "there's a way. I know it."

His old friend rolled his eyes, "You really are meant for each other. She always asked me to trust her."

"She was right though," Irik chimed in shyly.

"Sometimes. Actually, if it weren't for us, she'd be dead," Artisen said, sighing heavily. He eyed Renton, and Renton couldn't blame him. What could they do? They were stranded, in the middle of no where, and calling backup would be pointless here on earth so far from the POF. But he returned the gaze, confident, because he knew it's what they needed to do.

"Okay," Artisen said, "let's see if we could figure this out. Could we pull the trapar away from it? Disable it?"

"Dangerous technology. Most prototypes I've worked on pull and condense the trapar, which usually knocks all surrounding ships out of the sky and causes trapar storms. My father had a few designs that looked to work, but I left those buried. It would also take me months to build one."

"Could we, I don't know, affect the trapar somehow? Make it unstable?"

Irik frowned, "I can't even begin to imagine what that's supposed to mean."

Aritsen shot an irritated glare at both of them. "Well no one else has any better ideas."

"We need to board it," Renton said.

The other laughed, "board it? Our LFOs are unusable. And, I don't know if you noticed" he leaned forward and dropped his voice, as though it were a secret, "Our ship got shot." Renton forgot how irritatingly sarcastic the man could be.

"Actually, we could," Irik said.

"What?"

"Yes. I think my stealth shuttle could do it."

"You mean that thing that could cloak? You told me you started that project months ago."

Irik rolled his eyes. "It was actually two years ago and I finished it last week"

"And it works?" Renton said, feeling hopeful for the first time.

Irik nodded, "Yes, the whole thing can cloak. I had initially planned on installing panels all around the Night Iris, but they're incredibly expensive to make and could only afford to install the bottom half. I doubt Eureka would have given me the money for the rest."

Artisen shrugged, "War and money, always working hand in hand."

"Can we get it out of the hanger?" Renton said.

Irik nodded. "It's fully functional, from what I saw on the way out. It survived the attack very well," he said with a proud smile. "The hanger door itself will open with a few well placed explosives.

"Then we better get started," Artisen said, finally assuming a serious tone. "Because I think Eureka is getting tired."

Renton glanced up. The explosion were still going. She was still up there fighting alone, outnumbered, and overpowered. There was no escape. He willed up to her, hoping she could feel it, or somehow know that he was coming. And he _will_ come. He always would.

There was nothing outside. Nothing but fire, metal, and carnage. The earth seemed to fade away and the skies evaporated from the flames of battle. Nothing but her and slave units. Metallic beats flung like gigantic bullets at her from every direction. She had been dodging them for over half the battle, and so far, she had only killed three.

Every now again she could knick a shoulder with her blade, getting a satisfying explosion as a gasoline line snapped and ignited, but the machines just kept _going. _Armless, headless, with dozens or hundreds of gashes through the main body, they continued charging like mindless drones.

"Xellien," she gasped, as though breathing for the first time. "I don't think I can keep going."

She felt strange, a familiar feeling she had felt years ago. She didn't want to believe it, but a glance at the dashboard where the old Inverse Drive stood showed that it have a faint purple glow. Xellien was exerting its influence on her.

It helped. Despite her tired arms and numb fingers, she managed to keep pushing and pulling. Though her mind felt like a slab of meat, she managed to see every missile, feel them coming at her, and react. Xellien was helping her in the only way it knew how, by using the Inverse Drive to push her. It wouldn't control her, or rather it couldn't, but it could give her enough strength to ignore the fatigue.

She was grateful, but also sad. Many years she blamed the device for having ruined everything. She wanted to rip it out many times throughout her years of dark loneliness, but kept it, fearing that it might damage Xellien to remove it. Now the very device that had been the anchor to her hate and despise, was now the tool for saving her life.

Her vision blurred and darkened as she dived down, dodging two SU's and several missiles. She could feel her pulse slowing. A burst of energy ripped her from the black daze and forced her to concentrate, dodging another set of missiles. The inverse drive had saved her again.

"Xellien," she whispered quietly, voice hoarse. "I don't know how much longer I can hold on."

There were so many of them, and they all wanted her dead. Three Slave Units slammed against her, sending her into a spiral. The Inverse Drive kept her awake.

"It's too much."

Another two slammed against her, sending her bouncing off in the other direction. She coughed and heaved, trying to take in air from the massive change in direction. The G's slammed her against the pilot seat and crushed her chest.

"Xel!" she coughed as another missile hammered her board. The board exploded, shattering into thousands of pieces. She began to fall. Several SU's chased her. She twisted, swung her blade, and sliced the first completely in half. A second emerged from the blast of flame and smoke, and slammed right into her.

The compac cracked. It all stopped. Blackness swarmed her vision.

Renton gripped the steering wheel in impatience. The hanger doors had been blown away and the vehicle floated off the ground. It didn't even make a noise. Being able to move without hearing some artificial sound in response left an eerie feeling in his stomach. Sightless and soundless. It would be a dangerous weapon indeed were it weaponized.

"This is amazing, Irik," Renton called back.

"It certaintly is one of my bests. And it's a original!" he said with a little pride.

"Not one of your fathers?"

"Oh no. Most of his technologies surrounded the trapar. I've always been more interested in light. It's a little older and more consistent. If you ask me."

Renton nodded. He hadn't really thought about it.

He looked back out the viewport where he could see the broken cruisers spaced out across the forest landscape. His arms itched to get moving, but Irik had demanded they run at least one diagnostic on the systems. Two hours passed since blasting the hanger open and another just running the diagnostic.

"We're almost done, right?" Renton asked.

"Better be," Artisen chimed in as he stepped onto the bridge.

Irik raised his hands to silence both of them. "Just be patient. This is a delicate process."

"You sure you want to pilot, kid?"

Renton turned back the wheel. A couple of years training to fly an KLF had taught him quite a bit about UF military flight vehicles. Although it was different from an LFO and KLF in every way possible, some principles shared across the three. Flying was flying.

"I got it," he said with a confident nod. Besides," he turned back towards Artisen with a confidence grin, "no one knows the trapar better than me."

Artisen popped his brows once, "don't get cocky on me."

"Done. Every panel is operating as it should, and our radar echo drive is also functioning properly. I just need twenty minutes and then we can go."

"Finally," Artisen said and sat down in the copilots seat next to Renton. "We're going to move now. I just saw the battle outside."

"How is it?" Renton nearly yelled.

The other didn't seem to notice. "Quiet. Unnervingly quiet. We don't have any optical equipment, but either Eureka won that battle or-," he stirred off, unwilling to finish the sentence.

Renton turned back forward and grabbed the wheel. He wasn't giving up. Not yet, and not ever. The odds were against them, but that really wasn't something new. He took a deep breath, about to lift the shuttle and launch.

"Wait!" Clark's voice yelled from the back.

Renton reflexively let go before hitting forward on the throttle. He turned around to see Clark and Sarah standing at entry door.

"You have to let us come with you," Clark said, eyes pleading.

Artisen raised a brow, "no we don't. Out."

"You need my help," Sarah said, eyes cool and controlled. Even though he had regained his memories, something stilled rubbed him the wrong way about her, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He brushed the thought aside.

"Why would we need _your_ help," Artisen said, his voice dropping from cool to cold. Renton glanced at his old friend's face, and it was obvious. Artisen did _not_ like this girl.

"I've seen this ship before," she said.

The air grew quiet.

"How?" Renton said slowly.

"It's called the Megalith. It's not UF. I and group of other officers and myself were assigned to finding out its location and purpose. We failed to reach the location when we were assaulted by a force of UF cruisers. The same one Renton and Clark arrived in."

"That's why you were there at that battle?" Renton asked.

She nodded. "We were trying to hide our intended purpose. But I need to go with you, please. It's my mission."

Renton resisted the urge to bite his lower lip. He didn't have a reason not to trust Sarah, but he had the inkling of a feeling that she wasn't saying everything, that, and espionage was difficult with three people, let alone five in total. But they weren't really going on to be spies.

He took a deep breath. His feelings wouldn't tell him either way. "Alright."

"What?" Artisen said, shooting a glare at him. "You're not serious."

"We could use the extra people on the mission, Artisen. We're not exactly a full crew of highly trained spies, like you."

Artisen leaned to one side, his eyes burning to the back of the ship where Clark and Sarah stood. Renton could feel the heat, something much more than hate, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Artisen was an expert spy, most likely the best, and he always held his cool. Seeing him this shaken seemed both odd and disconcerting. He almost retracted the words, but Clark and Sarah both helped him find a way. Were it not for Sarah's help, he may never have found Eureka.

His gut twisted again, uncertain. He had to take a chance. "We're leaving with them as soon as everyone is strapped in," he said finally.

Artisen locked his jaw and sat down in the co-pilot seat. "Whatever. Not like my opinion made much a difference on this ship anyway."

Renton tuned out the words. He couldn't afford to be distracted by whatever drove Artisen to gritting.

The shuttle lifted off the floor, gliding gently, and then burst through, sailing into the sky. Hopefully, completely invisible.

The air burned as though like an oven. Every breath scratched, filling her lungs like hot gases. She pried her eyes open, trying to scan her surrounding, but the faintly glowing floor of polished metal met her eyes. She looked up, seeing her arms tied to two glowing rods of purple.

Nothing in the room made a sound. except for a faint hum. It itched her ears and mind, she could barely think. Second agos ago, she and Xellien were fighting for their lives, shrapnel, heat, and steel threatening to destroy them. After that, blackness. More time had passed, and she was clearly no longer in the Xellien, and she couldn't be dead.

She flexed her hands, trying to pull away from the beams, but they were tighter than the air locks on Xellien's cockpit. She controlled her breath, steadily decreasing her heart beat. There was always a way out.

"You're awake," the voice hissed through the quiet.

"Where am I?" She wasn't dead, at least she could rule that possibility out.

"It's not really important," he said, the voice was clearly a man's.

Anyth threat would be empty. She was bound tight, tired, weak, and confused. Whoever the voice belonged to, she was at their mercy.

"You won't have to worry about it much longer. I promise."

"Somehow," she said, standing up and leaning against whatever stood behind her, "I really doubt you mean that."

"I do. Tell me, who are you?"

"Don't recognize the face?"

The voice seemed to hover around her, hovering in the air. Whenever she tracked it, it moved. It wanted to elude her, keep her guessing, questioning. Whoever _he_ was, it kept her confused. She forgot to keep to her training, try to guess her surroundings and location. She just had to remember, but only pulled up blanks.

"It's not your face, it's the anomaly within you," the voice sounded like a leaking gas line. Shivers ran down her spine, "you're not right. Not anymore."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I think you do," he said, the voice drawing closer. Her heart rate increased. "You're not what your face claims to be. There's something… _more._"

He knew. Eureka didn't know how, but somehow he knew she had gained memories from the future. Seven to eight whole years worth. That kind of knowledge, in term of military plans, technology, and events overall could have a huge impact on the war. It only just occurred to her the massive knowledge _she_ now possessed. Perhaps the most powerful weapon on the planet.

She kept her mouth shut.

"That won't help. Not for long," the voice said. "No, I'm not going to hurt you, at least not physically. I don't need you to tell me what's inside that mind of yours or whatever it is that has had this change on you, I just want to understand what it is." The voice was just in front of her now. "Tell me."

She nibbled her lower lip, the dry skin feeling like jerky between her teeth. "Who are you?"

"Don't dodge my question. _Tell me_."

Her lips felt lose. It wouldn't hurt to tell the truth. She was captured, tied and bound. Information might get her free or a chance to escape.

"_Tell me_," the voice spoke right beside her ear. The words sizzled inside her mind. She needed to tell him.

"I'm-," she paused. Should she tell him?

"_Just, tell me," _he said again, closer now, the words buzzing like a hum.

Her whole body shook. She knew that feeling. It robbed everything from her, broke her inside and out. It wouldn't best her again.

"Stop it," she breathed.

"_TELL ME,"_ the voice boomed inside her head, filling her like heavy water. She craved to obey, to listen, but it could never fully control. Only if she wanted it to. That was how the inverse drive worked. The compac could communicate with an Exoskeleton, but it never took control. The reverse was true for humans. So long as she kept her mind straight, focusing on Renton, getting out, and remember what she really wanted, it couldn't confuse her.

The voice reverberated inside her, the feeling echoing from the wall behind her. It had to be an inverse drive, and a big one. She tried to look up, and now she could see it, the dim purple glow of the inverse drives strength up into the ceiling. It was huge.

She turned her thoughts back to the room. Too dark to see a thing, but not dark enough that she couldn't faintly make out a door at the other end. They had her tied, and they might be confident about that too. If she could get one arm loose, she could escape. She began wiggling her hands, ignoring the sharp pain biting into her wrists.

"It's useless," the voice said, not inside her, or in any one direction. It not emanated from above and cracked, as though sounding from a speaker. "Very well."

The room burst with light, blinding her. They stung and watered before they adjusted enough to make out a man standing in front of her. The whole room lit up, and there wasn't anything much to look at. No furniture, decorations, or anything. Just a door and the massive inverse drive behind her.

"I was hoping it would work, but you were a poor test subject."

"I've never seen an inverse drive this large before," Eureka said, surprised at the own dryness of her voice.

"It's the smallest model I've build, excluding the Slave Unit models.

_Smallest?_ she thought, confused.

"This one is built for interrogation. It would work on anyone else, I'm sure, but you've already been exposed to the inverse drive, haven't you? My reports say the model on your LFO is cracked. You caused a feedback loop from resisting its influence, most likely. Impressive, but troublesome." the man said, sighing.

Her eyes focused and she could make out the man. Tall, wearing a black uniform she didn't recognize with a white collar. His hair curved up and back around his head, gelled to perfect. And his eyes were grey and dead. Her stomach turned slowly just staring at them.

"I supposed I couldn't convince you to tell me what you are? Or what it is that's causing the anomaly inside of you?" he said, his dead eyes seeming to stare into her. He knew too much, and she didn't know how.

"Who are you?" she asked, staring back at him. Weakness would expose her and possibly entice him to other means of interrogating her.

The man turned looking at the wall to their left. "Son of Revina Machal."

Eureka's entire body froze, chilled to the core at the name of the woman. "That's not possible."

"Disgusting, isn't it? The woman who stole everything from you, the same who reached inside of you and twisted, broke, and even shattered everything you held dear. And even when that was done, she killed your husband. Out of what? Respite."

If her mouth we dry before, it was completely stiff now. "But," she choked.

"This isn't for revenge, if that's what you're thinking.

"Than why?"

He turned back, a smile as cold and dead as his eyes on his face. "Because like mother like son, apple doesn't far from the tree, or same old same old. Whatever gives you confidence that you actually can even _begin_ to understand my motivation."

Her panic rose. The fear bleeding out into her eyes. She could feel it, she was losing. "Please, don't do this."

He laughed, the sound like scratching chalkboard. "I haven't even begun." He turned and left, leaving Eureka alone in the room. Dark. Quite. Stinging.

The general cursed as the ship shook, sending one of the crews flying from their station. Spark exploded in a spray around his command station.

Nina grabbed the railing for dear life as the ground began to pull away from her. Ahead on the viewport, the sky turned way, met by the horizon which sped towards them. All around her the crew yelled, some screamed, and few barely kept their cool as the ship pulled back up again. War Bringer had just narrowly dodged a squad of SUs on a kamikazee to destroy them. They had fortunately escaped the canons of the strange ship bellow, but they were still confined, trapped by several SU's and KLF's. It was clearly UF technology and design, but it was advanced beyond that as well, but she didn't understand who could have obtained this technology.

It couldn't be POF. They had completely shut down the Night Iris. It's burning remain left a pillar of smoke even at the height they flew at. And again, it was unlikely a pirate could obtain such advanced technology, whatever it was. She gritted her teeth, this was her job and responsibility. She was supposed to know this would happen _before_ it happened.

"Status," General Machale commanded from his chair.

"We're barely flying sir," a man said, Morrick, from his station just in front of her, scruffy fellow who clearly skipped the daily shave routine. "We've lost more panels than a smugglers shuttle skipping laser shots. It's a miracle."

"Miracle?" Nina scoffed, giving him her best scowl. "This is anything but a miracle. We've lost _three_ cruisers."

Morrick shrugged, "Would you prefer we be a hot smoking pile of metal like them? That'd clear your pessimism up, eh?"

"Calm," The general said. "None of us could have seen this coming, Nina." He looked right at her, as though she read her thoughts exactly, and he knew her well enough that he probably did. She was his personal spy, a right hand some called it, to his personal agenda in finding out information about POF operations as well as unsanctioned UFF operations.

"Understood, General," she said coolly, clearing her mind.

"Any idea what this might be?"

Her shoulders stiffened. "I'm not sure, sir. I don't recognize the model, technology, or the significance of this location."

The general nodded his head slowly. "I didn't ask what had brought the Gekko State to this location, I should have. We're out gunned and clearly out planned. Suggestions?" he said, looking around at the crew. No one spoke, silence forcing Nina's mind to turn and burn. "Then we retreat," his eyes emotionless.

"Can we even escape that thing?" Morrick asked, looking out the viewport where the strange battleship floated billow them.

"It's gun range appears limited," Nina said, stepping closer. "So long as we stay outside of its angle of aim, we should be fine."

The general nodded in agreement. "That's why picking up survivors is going to be difficult."

"Picking up the what now?" Morrick said, standing up. "You can't be serious. There are dozens of SUs out there and perhaps a hundred KLFs. There's not one we could make it down with enough shuttles." Nina agreed, but she knew the real reason, the General's best kept secret. He had never told her directly, but her skills didn't stop her from putting all the pieces and hints together. His son was down there, and he needed to know if he survived. Ever since the Night Iris crashed, he had become strangely stoic.

"I volunteer, General," she said. The general eyes shiftes to her and gave the smallest nod of gratitude.

"Captain!" A crewmen yelled from the front of the bridge. "The units are retreating."

The General stood. "What?"

"They're retreating."

"Unlikely," Morrick grunted. "SU's don't retreat."

"I don't know why sir, and it seems that the flagship is changing course. It's guns are pointed away from our vector."

"Confident buggers," Morrick said, "think they can turn their rear on us and we won't fire?"

"They could easily turn back again before we could get off a second shot. Let them be, gather the survivors."

"Well fine then, General. If that's the case, I request to join Nina."

"Request acknowledged. Move quickly, send other shuttles ahead of you. We leave as soon as they're aboard."

"Roger, general," they both said simultaneously.

"The shuttle is ready," Irik said, hesitantly.

"You sound reluctant," Renton said as he scanned the dials and meters that all checked green in his eyes.

"I like to be thorough," Irik said, "but without a proper test, or a few, it's hard to know if anything here is truly _ready_."

"I guess you're right," Renton said with a nod, "I just hope there's still enough time."

Renton looked towards the viewport where the hanger sat lopsided against the horizon, giving him the sensation that they were slipping off the earth. He shook the feeling, calming himself with tempered breathing.

Clark popped up over the edge of the hanger doors and ran towards them. Renton had sent him to keep track of the ship and make sure they were still in range. Seeing him sent a tingle across his nerves. If they lost sight of the ship, that was it. They didn't have a means to catch up and it could take months to track it down.

His academy friend wheeled the corner, panting heavily. "We got visitors!"

Nina felt strange walking on something so famous, or infamous at least. She looked at the crumbling walls and sparking ceiling. The only light cut through the room from the open hanger doors, which looked to have been blasted wide open with a few crude bombs. Probably the case. The whole ship grumbled with hollow cracks and dings. At any moment, it could all collapse, unforgiving against weakened and broken support beams and metal frames. The once all powerful Night Iris had become nothing more than a pile of burning metal.

_How fitting,_ she thought, concealing her satisfaction. Despite her contempt for the POF and their self righteous agenda, she wouldn't allow it to negate her personal loyalty to General Machale. The man had saved her life, and the lives of many other people dear to her. Her number one priority was to ensure the safety of his son, Eoin. Blood or not, the kid was important to him, and in the end, to her as well.

She approached the shuttle, the engine ridges giving off an odd hum that she didn't recognize. And something else. The metal didn't seem quite right. It gave off the normal obsidian black hue, but more reflective, almost glassy.

"Strange little thing, eh?" Morrick said, chewing on the root of a weed he managed to find somewhere off the ground after they landed. Strange man. "These strange traitors, doing whatever they can and who knows why."

"Quiet," she put her hand out to stop them. "We can't afford to lose their trust. The situation seems," she breathed, "delicate."

The boy, Clark, whom she had come to know after routine visit to the academy, didn't even recognize her when she arrived with Morrick and the recovery crew. But she knew the kid well enough. Many times she had observed them as a janitor, fellow classmate, teacher, or whatever other disguise she conjured that day. He was a good kid, but not the brightest of the bunch. Intuitive, but not exactly perceptive. But it was clear the boy wanted something concealed, and she wanted to know what.

"And what would that be?" a deep voice said as a man emerged from behind the shuttle. He wore a rugged black uniform, UF, but old, worn down, and sown in odd places where it looked like a knife could have cut through. His jaw jutted out sharp, giving him the aura of a captain, or a confident officer. But his eyes were different, an oceanic blue, soft yet piercing.

"Nothing," she said, smiling innocently. She could recover quickly with any one of her many personalities. A dumb officer who looked to only climb through the ranks by her looks and not her wit could do it. "We're worried not everyone will make it. We're leaving soon."

Artisen frowned, "You're a spy?"

Nina froze, "P-pardon?"

"It's obvious," he said, sighing.

Morrick, "Sweet Trapar, he pegged you quick."

"Shut it," Nina said sharply.

"Hey, you did great," he said and took a step closer, looking her up and down, as if to peel away all of her disguises. She had never felt so unguarded. "Good stance, good body language, fantastic voice," he tapped his cheek, "but the eyes are all wrong."

She gritted her teeth, "and what would be wrong with them?"

He stared at her, mouth slowly curling into a smile. "Too beautiful to be that dumb."

Her spine chilled as her stomach warmed. Something about this felt familiar, not the words, but the sensation. "Have we met?" she asked.

He shrugged, "probably. I've been around. Look, normally I would flirt with you, even at gun point, but," he shoved a thumb back, "We're sort of in a rush to save his wife and possibly the world. So whatever it is you need, why don't you give me your number and we can talk about the urgent issue over dinner. What do you say?" he said with wink.

"I-," she said. The man had seized the situation from her.

"Nina?" A familiar voice sounded from behind Artisen. Grateful for any opportunity for escape, she side stepped to see Renton standing, tall, proud, and different. She couldn't help but smile. He had grown so much. "It is you!" he said, smiling widely and rushing at her, wrapping his arms around her."

"Do we get a turn?" Artisen asked.

"Get in line," Morrick chimed in, sounding oddly disgruntled.

Renton pulled away, his eyes beaming like never before. "It's been so long."

"Four months," she said, grabbing his face tenderly. "You haven't been eating very well."

"I've been doing alright. It's hard with remembering seventeen years of a lost life, being on the run from your own country, and chasing after a dream."

Her heart sank slightly. "I'm sorry, Eoin. Er- I mean, Renton."

He reached up and stroked the side of her cheek, like a son would to his dear mother. "It's alright. I don't blame you."

"Alright!" Artisen walked up and tucked his face right between theirs. "Explain."

"Right, sorry," he said, pulling away. He was so skinny and ghostly in appearance. The realization of who he was and what he had lost must have torn him to pieces. Sometimes the guilt tore at her, ate her, but deep inside UF territory, what could she do? And she had to support the general, she was duty bound.

"This is Nina. She's been my guardian, kind of. She always made sure to keep me out of trouble. My father gave her the mission personally."

"And I'm guessing you knew about his real identity," Artisen said.

"Artisen," Renton said, giving him a sharp look.

"No Renton, it's alright," she hesitated, then nodded. She had known, though she wished she hadn't. The days not spent guarding Renton were to make sure his secret stayed a secret. "I honestly didn't know what else I could do. I felt that this was the best I could give him."

Artisen stared at her, "eh, I've done worse, but he can't go with you."

"Why not," she said, suddenly feeling tense. She wouldn't afford letting Renton getting lost again.

"Relax, he wants to save Eureka and that's exactly what we're going to do."

"Impossible. The Slave Units will slaughter you along with whatever cannons those are."

"We have a way. This right here," he said, pointing to the strangely colored shuttle. "It can cloak."

"Impossible," she said, staring. "No one has that kind of technology, and even if you did, we don't know how many people are aboard that ship and what they're equipped with. It's just the two of you?"

"Five," Artisen sound, "and really, I count more like ten."

"Stop, this isn't a joke," she said.

"I'm not joking," he said straight faced.

She glared at him. There was something about him that felt familiar. She knew him from somewhere. That, and there was some rugged handsomeness to the man she tried to push from her mind. Her glare switch from Artisen to Renton with some effort, trying to refocus her efforts. She couldn't let him go, not after all this time. She had to protect him.

"You'll get killed, Renton. Let's regroup. Come back to the ship, with your father, I'm sure we can rally more ships and mount a counter attack."

"You mean man slaughter? The Night Iris is one of the most advanced ships in the world. The ship, whatever it was, took us down _missing._ It _missed_ and we went down," Artisen scoffed.

"And now you want to chase after it?" she said, shoving a finger at him.

Artisen shrugged, " I didn't say it was smart."

"It's the opposite. It's _insane,_" she said, mustering her toughest glare and mounting it on Renton. The kid wasn't even phased, in fact, he smiled.

"Still trying to be the mother I never had," he said, shaking his head softly. "I'm not a kid anymore."

Her tongue felt numb, the truth hit her a little harder than she thought. Did she really view him that way? Had the mission become more than a command? An honored promise? She shifted her eyes away, avoiding his. It had, and she knew it.

"I know how I've been in the past," he said and put two arms on her shoulders, stronger than she remembered. He stared her straight in the eyes. "But you have to trust me that I know this is what I need to do."

She stared at him a moment more, "how?"

His smile became soft, "I stopped asking myself that question when I was fourteen years old."

She didn't know the significance of that age, but somehow the words comforted her. She didn't like it, but what could she do? Renton wasn't her son. He wasn't even the real son of the general. "Alright," she said, sighing. "I was prepared to knock you all out and kidnap Renton against his will, but I subside."

Artisen laughed, "funny."

Renton shook his head. "No, she would have done it."

"Too right," Morrick said.

Nina ignored Artisen's shocked expression. "But you must let me come with you."

"What, not a chance," Aritsen said, "too dangerous."

She shot him a look. "Too dangerous? Have you been listening?"

"It's alright, you can come."

"You're going to let her come? But we- or _I_ don't know anything about this girl, where she comes from, if she can be trusted. For all I know, she's working for the other side, and you know how I like to have things run. This isn't part of the equation, it's not set."

"There's enough trust in me for the both of us, Artisen," he said, turning back on that soft smile, "trust me. She's the most skilled spy I've ever seen. She snuck into every classroom without ever drawing notice of the teacher, saved me a dozen times from a bad fistfight while leaving everyone else confused. She's saved my life in more ways than one. I need her here, Artisen. This can't be by chance. She's coming."

Artisen took on a long breath before nodding. "Fine. But on one condition."

"What?" she said, starting to lose her patience. "Dinner this weekday. Me, you, somewhere nice. And cheap. I sort of just lost my main source of income," he said, "and only source," he said, more quietly.

"Done," Renton said, turning back with Artisen into the ship.

"What? No! I don't promise anything of the sort."

"It's that or stay here! Your choice!" Renton said just as they both entered the ship, a coy smile on his face that she didn't appreciate too much.

"I-," Nina said, resisting the urge to pull on her hair. They were all so frustrating.

"Take it while you can, sweetheart. I'm going to report back to General Machale. He'll want the news and we'll want to mount an offensive. Hey, are you listening?"

Nina shook her head, having honestly lost herself to the strangeness of the man and Renton. "Yes, sorry. It's all just a little overwhelming for me."

"It is for everyone, sweetheart. Keep it together. We need to act fast and act now."

She shook it, running through the mental exercise she learned in training, regaining focus. "You'll need to tell the general to regroup. I'm going to try and disable the cannon, and then I'll send you a signal, if we get aboard."

Morrick raised a brow, "_if?_"

She took a deep breath. "We don't even know if it cloaks."

"It better," he said, turning around and beginning to walk back casually. In the fact of destruction, facing an enemy neither the POF or the UF have ever faced, she felt edgy. A force so powerful, it downed four ships with two shots and scared off the other two. Certainly they've never encountered something so large and dangerous in all of this planet's history, post and pre recolonization.

The thought sent a shiver down her spine. She wish she had a few more years experience on her belt, but then by it would have all been too late, most likely.

She swallowed her apprehension and followed them into the ship.

The world shook around Eureka, but not like an earthquake. It trembled and jabbed at her, swirling and twisting as though she were trapped in crashing LFO. An aching pain shot up from her stomach and into her throat, filling her with hot sharp stings. It seemed like it would never stop, always tumbling and turning. And then it all became still.

She gasped for breath, the air icy on her tongue. It could have been the air, or maybe she was that hot.

"Is it holding?" the familiar voice echoed through her mind. She opened her eyes. It had only been thirty minutes since their conversation, but it felt like several hours. They had moved her to another room, much larger than the first. The walls were of a white metal, stretching a hundred feet above her. Purple glowing tubes lined either side, emitting a glow that seemed to dig into her skin, probing and poking. She could feel them twisting at her very nerves.

She sat on a chair of some kind, to chains tied around her wrist. What made the chair unique were two devices that clung to her wings. They wrapped around her like webs, blinking with purple and green lights like a beating pulse. That's what caused the pain. She wasn't sure what she wanted more, to rip them away or cut off her own wings. Tremor ignored all her questions, he probably didn't see her more than a simple experiment now. This device was doing something to her, or something with her, she couldn't tell. All she knew is it hurt. It hurt more than anything she had experienced before.

Three scientists dressed in labcoats stood around a console in front of her, jabbing at the controls. Everytime their hand neared the switch that activated the machine, she flinched. Only thirty minutes, and she felt broken.

"It's unstable. The device isn't meant to funnel this much energy. She's a much more powerful conduit than we first hypothesized."

Another scientist tapped her console, the sound like a beating drum next to Eureka's ears.

"Adjustment to the T-Resisters should be enough to hold down the energy levels," the second scientist said, an older man with greying hair. He turned to look at her, a look in his eyes containing a mixture of awe and curiosity. "Interesting. How can her body contain it?"

"The exoskeletons hold the same attributes as her," said the first, a younger man with blond hair.

The older shook his head, taking a step closer, but staying outside a strange green glowing circle that surrounded her. She had only just noticed it. "She's much more than they. _Those_ were the experiments. She's a finished product."

"Curiosity aside," Tremor said, standing beside the machine, "Will it be enough?"

The three scientists looked at each other, and they all nodded. "Yes," the Older said, "it will work. We need only make a few adjustments."

"And she'll survive for another charge? Perhaps two more?"

The third and final scientist, a woman with red hair reaching down her back stepped forward apprehensively. "Commander, as far as we can tell, she is capable of enduring as many as necessary."

Tremors mouth curved into a wicked smile, "that is great news, indeed. Very well, we prepare for the first test shot. UF head quarters."

The three other scientists stiffened. "Sir?" the woman said.

"Prepare her for a full blast. We shoot in an hour," he turned around and started for the door.

"Sir," the women spoke up, quietly. "There are over ten million people living at head quarters. It's a city. If we fire the weapon, no one will survive."

Tremor stopped. His head turned slowly to the side, ice in his eyes. "Pardon?"

The three stood silently, before the elder stepped forward. "It will be ready, sir," he said, sounding as though having narrowly missed a bullet. "Immediately."

Tremor left. The three all seemed to deflate, the girl leaning against the counter. "I'm sorry, I just wasn't certain."

"We're all committed now, Samantha," he said, "there's no turning back."

"What have we created?" The blond one said quietly.

"A masterpiece. And now it's time to take it to the show," the elder one said. "Let's vacate the room. Enough energy will run through her to kill us all a million times over. Let's move."

Eureka struggled to pay attention, to keep listening, but then blackness crept over her eyes, taking her away.

The shuttle shook at an unusual blast of wind, but not a sound was made, not even a jingle. Renton sat comfortably in the front seat, calm and collected, but thoughts on Eureka. She didn't know, she couldn't know that he remembered everything. What would she think once they meet? As silly as the thought felt, he played it over and over again in his head, it helped to distract them at what they were about to do.

No on in the back said a world, each occupant strangely quiet as though a dark cloud hung over all of them, ready to thunder and strike. He breathed deeply as they neared a hatch, which they assumed had to be a means of getting into the ship. They had already wasted the last hour trying to find a way in, and by the genius of Irik's cloak, nothing happened. No KLFs or SU's. As far as it seemed, they had approached without being noticed.

The shuttle slowly lowered, gently tapping the hall of the ship before a set of magnetic clamps extended and tightened them to the hull. Without a thud or bang, the shuttle became still.

"Impressive," Artisen said, his voice empty of sarcasm.

"Not even a whisper," Nina said, who stood a little too close to Artisen. The two in the last hour had clicked, making snide comments the whole way. "We could use this technology."

"Let's stay focused," Irik said as he came up beside them, hitting a few buttons on the console, "We need to accomplish this mission first."

"Clearly," she said, glaring at him. She did that a lot.

"Let's get inside," Renton said, standing up. It was time.

Renton dropped from the hatch above them, climbing down a small ladder, and landing in a small room. Nina and Artisen stood at metal door. Nina held it open while Artisen peeked through.

"Anyone?" Renton said, walking over to them.

Artisen shook his head, "Hall seems clear, and in the last five minutes, I haven't seen a soul." He waved at Nina with his hands and the two switched places, as if she completely understood what that meant.

"We need to make a plan," he said, face cool and collected. He hadn't seen Artisen this serious since he first met him.

"How? We don't know anything about the ship," Irik said, walking up behind them. Clark was climbing down now. That only left Sarah.

"I might be able to hack into a console," Nina said, still peeking through the door. "This seems to be of UF design and procedure. I'm certain I could find a way in."

"I could help with that," Artisen said.

"If I could get a schematic of the ship, it could work," Irik added. "From that, we could probably ascertain Eureka's position. A brig of some kind."

"I like it. Let's make it happen," Renton said.

"I think we're clear," Nina said, "It's been what, ten minutes?"

"Nine," Artisen said, "but good enough for me if it is for you."

She smiled, "Then it's good enough. Let's go."

"Everyone else stay here. We'll be back."

Artisen and Nina walked down the hallway cautiously. He couldn't help but take just a quick look at Nina as she walked behind her. She had the blackest hair he had ever seen, and something about her, the way she walked and carried herself, made it that much harder to concentrate on the fact that they were walking aboard one of the most powerful weapons in the world.

She stopped and he nearly ran into her, catching a powerful whiff of her cherry flavored perfume. She pushed him back against the the wall and then indicated around the corner. He slowly peeked around the corner and saw a man and woman at a console in the wall, just like the one they needed. Artisen couldn't have asked for better.

He laid a hand on her shoulder and pointed to the two and then at himself. He made a gesture commonly recognized as a distraction. She nodded, understanding perfectly.

They turned around the corner, moving slowly. As they approached, the two seemed to be making friendly banter to one another, but nothing important for him to remember. He tuned it out, focusing on the man. He wasn't very big in any fashion of the word, but looks could be deceiving.

Nina drifted away, rounding just behind him. She was good, very good. Her feet didn't make a peep as she rounded behind them, only a foot away. He only hoped she would be ready for his unconventional approach.

He couldn't take both down at once. But with the right kind of tactic, a well placed distraction, and a coordinated attack, anything was possible.

His last step took him into position, the anticipation almost tangible in the air. His breath came to a slow, steady beat. Nina fell into position on the otherside, close to the girl. They were both so close, an arms length away, but neither of the two victims knew. It was time to strike.

"Hey!" Artisen said. The two turned immediately, nearly jumping at his sudden appearance. "I'm am so totally lost. Where can a guy find a bathroom and a bag of chips on this warmachine, eh?"

They completely froze in place, shocked, and probably a little weirded out. He saw Nina roll her eyes behind them..

"Seriously, no one?" he said. The man began to reach into his lab coat. "Nope!" Artisen gritted his teeth as he punched, his fist flying like a missile and crushing the man's hand. He pulled back and threw the fist into his throat, giving a satisfying crunch in return. The man fell, gasping, unable to scream.

Artisen whipped his head up, ready to stop the girl, but instead found her on the ground, out cold, Nina standing above her dusting her hands. "Didn't even have to punch," she said, eyeing him with a smile of satisfaction.

"What does that mean?" He said, reaching into the man's coat and finding a communications device of some kind. The man coughed, trying to yell, but unable. "Oh you'll be fine. It'ls only temporary," he said to the man on the floor.

She moved to the console, beginning to search through the files, "That some of us don't need such _dramatic_ measures to accomplish a _simple_ task."

"Dramatic?" he fiddled with the device, hoping to find a general broadcast. "Stylized, maybe."

"You always do thing with such _stylized _flare?"

He was in luck, but it required a pastcode. He sighed and began to look for a command prompt. "Don't you?"

She shrugged, "I'm a woman. Eveything I do, not matter how small or big, has a stylized flare to it. We're talented like that."

"That seems unfair," he said, beginning to pick his way through hidden files and security programs. "Well, maybe some of us just like to make it big."

"Maybe," she said, "I think I found it."

He walked over to the device and viewed the map. The schematic was huge, showing a degree of over forty floors of various sizes and designs. The cannons were listed and made of a design he couldn't hope to begin to interpret, but hopefully Irik would make better of it.

He quickly scanned the levels, looking for anything that might resemble a bridge, but found nothing.

"If there are brigs, I doubt we'll recognize them," she said, "but this looks awful curious, doesn't it?" She tapped something circular at the edge of the V shape ship. It looked big.

"What is it?" he said.

"How should I know? By the way, I finished this for you," she held up the communication device. He looked down at his hands. They were empty.

"How did you- but- what?"

She winked at him and pressed the device into his hands. "_That's_ stylized flare. Now, if we can't find this Eureka here, we'll need a better way."

He had a powerful desire to date this woman, and frankly, he couldn't stop thinking about it. A first. He would have to double task. "Don't worry," he said, "cracking his knuckles. "Now let me show you something _really_ drammatic."

He turned to the man lying on his back, defeated. Little did he know his part in all this was far than over. There was a reason Artisen had left him conscious. "Just give me a few seconds with this guy."

Renton nearly lost his patience when the door opened and Nina and Artisen came through, towing two people in, both unconscious.

"We know where Eureka is," Artisen said, dragging the man up against the door.

"Where?" Renton said, quickly walking over to them. "How far away is she?"

"Slow down, Eoin," Nina, letting the old name slip. "We may have bigger problems."

"This ship," Artisen started, holding up a little pad on his hand. "It's giant weapon."

"I think we gathered that," Clark said.

"You don't get it," Artisen said, "the whole thing's a giant gun."

"Elaborate," Irik said.

"It somehow channels trapar energy and uses it to power a weapon."

"Impossible," Irik said, rushing forward and snatching the pad out of Artisen's hands. "They couldn't have."

"You know about this?"

Irik shook his head, his forehead glistening with beads of sweat. "My father devised such a weapon nearly a decade and a half ago. It was truly ingenious, but like many of his invention, it was left incomplete for many reasons. In some of the document he left for me, I found a schematic for this, but it can't be the same."

Irik's fingers trembled as he swiped through the schematic, enlarging a section that seemed to be the center of the ship. "This is that same design. I don't know how, but they found it. I thought I destroyed it long ago with everything else I could prior to be black mailed. I was wrong."

"Can we stop it?"

Irik locked eyes with Artisein. "We have to."

"We still have to find Eureka."

"That's the other thing," Nina said, turning her eyes on Renton. "She's somehow involved."

"That's a poor choice of words." Artisen said, "She's more like the key. They need her to power the thing."

"Power it?"

"Ah," Irik said, nodding slowly as if he understood. "That's how they overcame the influx principle. In my father's designs, he never concluded a way to allow enough energy to power the weapon without it destroy the connection between the trappar and the power conversion shoot."

"Too many weird words," Clark chimed in. "Can we keep this in english?"

"There are converters, if you'll bear with me, that can take the trapar and convert them into other 'forms' of energy. That energy isn't quite like electricity, it's different, more fluidic. The math and physics behind it is far beyond the comprehension of anyone here. Needless to say, due to the nature of Trapar and the energy, when it's opened, the output increases exponentially and overloads any modern system we have today. That is it to say, the device usually explodes before it has a chance to fire."

"So it won't work then," Renton said.

"It wouldn't unless you had a conduit that could carry that energy with controlled fluctuation. Renton, please don't judge me for this, but I've had a theory about Eureka, and it is my belief that she could act as such a conduit."

Renton frowned, "Irik, speak clearly," he said, locking his jaw and resisting the urge to explode at him.

"I think she can keep the device from exploding by channeling the energy through her."

"What?" Renton yelled. "They're using her to power the device?"

"Essentially, yes."

Renton felt his blood boil like a hot steam. It took everything inside him to not punch the wall. Who would do this to his wife? His one and only? Who he or she was, he would hurt them. It might be wrong, but this was more than evil, this was demonic. The person responsible would pay.

"Listen, Renton," a smooth voice came from behind him, and he felt two hands slip around his shoulders. He looked to find Nina holding him tenderly. "Calm."

He felt like snapping, but his nerves cooled like chilled water over a hot metal. He closed his eyes and nodded, trying to focus and remember why they were here. Someone made this device with the intention of using Eureka. They would fail. He would stop them. But to do that, he first needed to save her, and a hot head never got him anywhere. Artisen and the Military taught him that.

"You're right. You're right, sorry."

She reached up and touched his cheek. "You're still the little punk I had to save from a failing grades all those years."

"It's not my fault my teachers didn't like you."

She eyed him, "No one liked you, sweetheart."

He laughed. She had a knack for that. The big sister he had always missed had returned back to him through Nina. She probably had no idea what she meant to him. "Let's save her."

"Lucky for you. We have a plan."

"We'll need to split up," Artisen said, taking the pad from Irik and beginning scroll through the schematics. "Renton and I are going after the cannons, Irik and Nina will grab Eureka."

"What?" Renton said.

"Trust Renton, this is how we need to do it. I have a gut feeling."

"Eureka, _my wife_, is being used as a weapon. I don't give a reffer's cracked board what your gut feeling says. I'm going. Irik and I can take care of it. Take Nina."

"Oh trust me. I wouldn't ask for anything better," Artisen said and took a few steps closer to Renton. He dropped his voice.

"I'm worried, Renton," he said, his voice barely a whisper. All this feels wrong and too familiar. It smells of Relina. You know how badly she wanted you and Eureka both, not just one. With my time on the ship, I came to realize that she was obsessed with the idea, but I never knew why. This could be it. I think, maybe, this might be a trap. if they manage to capture you both, who knows what kind of plans they might have for you. I would go myself, but we need someone trained in espionage in both groups, and Nina will get Irik there. We have to trust that this will work."

Renton felt a tight knot in his stomach. One part of him wanted to punch something, namely Artisen, as hard as he could. Another part, born from years of military discipline and training, told him to relax and think.

His emotions ran like a ravage beast inside him. He couldn't remember the last time he just wanted to hurt something, not like this. The image of Eureka being tortured burned into his mind. It brought back the memories of being with Eureka and Relina, the strange sensation and twisting emotions. Every thought of her let something inside him that bent and twisted everything good and true. He felt himself become corrupted.

"The inverse drive," he said, the thought dawning on him.

Artisen nodded, smiling at Renton's apparent realization, "we don't know what this ship is equiped with. If Irik's estimations are right, the whole blasted thing could be a massive inverse drive, and if we're right, it could be working on you. You won't be in the right mind to help Eureka"

A trickle of fear ran through his stomach. Artisen was right. Running to save Eureka might be exactly what whoever was in charge wanted.

He took a deep breath, "I'll go with you, then."

Out of the corner of his eye, Nina visibly relaxed. Apparently they had covered this conversation. He had to focus, block out the negative thoughts. And as much as it pained him, he had to think of something other than Eureka. Thoughts of her were too dangerous.

"We need to go now," Nina said. "The UF could be coming with reinforcements anytime now."

"Alright," Renton said, "Let's go."

"Woah- wait! What about us?" Clark said. Renton had almost forgotten about them. Their group had already become too large.

Artisen shot a glare towards them, but not at Clark, instead at Sarah. "You're going to stay here and defend our way off this ship. _Neither_ of you will leave or even think about leaving. Understood?"

"Understood," Sarah said, eyes cold.

"Good, let's go."

Nina eased the air into her lungs, letting the air fill her and creating a soft warm pressure inside her chest. She and Irik walked down the halls filled with all sorts of personnel. Two officers walked by on the left, eyeing them as they went. Two more scientist stood by a console, running some kind of diagnostic. Another soldier walked by, stopping to eye them as well.

The only thing that kept her and Irik from being completely spotted were the uniform. Artisen hadn't mentioned that the male uniform was Irik's size and not Renton's. It didn't matter either way. Artisen made the point she personally agreed with. Technicalities to every spy were of the upmost importance. Yet Artisen somehow knew precisely when to introduce an element of personal concern. It was so convincing, she wasn't sure if it was a tactic or if he really cared about Renton. She liked to believe the latter, and somehow doubted it could be only the former.

Another soldier passed, slowing down as he did. The halls were filled with them. It was a miracle they ran onto a mostly unpopulated deck near the roof of the ship. As they descended into lower floors, the amount of guards doubled, making it increasingly more difficult to remain casual. But the difficulty sent a shiver of excitement down her spine.

Most of her missions had been very low risk, like those involving Renton and his routine check ups. Here the stakes were higher than ever before, and she loved it. Too bad she couldn't say the same for Irik. The tall skinny thing looked more nervous than mouse caught in the food cabinet.

"You need to relax," she said in a barely audible whisper.

"We need to turn at the next hall. Right. We'll find another maintenance hatch with which we can descend to the lower level," he said, his words shaky. Nina sighed tiredly. At least he was focused.

They reached the end of the hall and turned to find it empty. She could feel Irik visibly relax beside her. "You're in luck," she said, "but you know it won't last. It's getting worse every level."

"I know," he said, rubbing his brow, "it's just that all of this brings back bad memories."

"Oh?" she said as they came up to a small door. "Tell me about it." Talking usually calmed nerves, or for him she hoped it would.

"It's a long story," he said, beginning to tap his foot nervously. It would be a miracle if they even make it close to Eureka without being drawn out for suspicion.

"Well, don't start at the beginning then. Just give the juicy details." She leaned down and studied the keypad. She typed in one of the code she had used on others with no response. Whoever ran this ship didn't much trust anyone. She cracked open the panel and plugged in the communication device.

"I was once part of the UF."

"That much I knew," she said, booting some of the algorithms. It was taking longer to crack each one.

"Yes, but what the report don't tell you is that I went on as a spy for the UF onto Gekko state. They took me in to protect me. They even risked their own lives. And every day that I could, I fed them information, slowly luring Eureka and Renton deeper into UF territory. Eventually I did. They found out, and well, needless to say, it's my fault all this happened. The war, Renton's death, Slave Unit, and everything else. The Inverse Drive would have stayed dead had I just had the courage of my father and taken my own life. Maybe none of this would have happened."

"Oh please," she said, laughing, "don't give yourself so much credit."

"Credit?" he said, "I wish none of this would have happened."

"Well, with this," she said, casually waving at the ship around them. "I think it's safe to say that someone still had all the documents and the intelligence to make it work. As for the war itself? Inevitable. The POF and UF were just waiting for a reason to tear eachother apart. They merely took the first real excuse they could. As for Renton?" she paused, looking up and taking a guilty moment to reminisce.

Years of watching over Renton, protecting him, and being there for him. Renton had become the little brother she had, a part of the family. "I'd like to think some good came out of his disappearance."

She looked at Irik who quickly dodged her gaze. For the first time, she saw the frailness to his body, the hollowness to his eyes and thinness in his hair. This was no man, it was a boy, lost, confused, and burdened with years of guilt. Those years left him trampled inwardly and outwardly. Whether the nervousness of being surrounded by hundreds of soldiers or the verbal admission of it, he let it all show.

"I don't like talking about it, really," he said, his voice formal and cool, but everything else falling apart. He looked familiar, like the first time she met Renton. Then, his body too had looked as Irik's. As she did then, she reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, gently, and gave it a light squeeze.

"Today, we make things right," she said, reaffirming with another gentle press.

His eyes looked back up, now filled with a renewed fire. "I believe that's the idea."

"Then let's get down there."

He nodded just as the algorithm cracked the code. In just a few more levels, they would reach Eureka.

Renton and Artisen passed the first cannon station. A quick look inside revealed three men sitting at consoles, manning the cannon. According to the schematic, each cannon required at least three men to properly operate. One for the trapar gain, another for aim, and the third regulating power output. Apparently the whole thing was experimental still, or so Irik thought.

Disabling a cannon would be easy enough. Remove the three operators and dismantle the console. At least it sounded easy to him. With all of his experience, he could even help Artisen accomplish that. The only problem would be doing it quietly.

"Ideas?" Renton said as he peered around the door. They both had managed to steal an extra set of clothes, which so far had been their only protection. That, and Aritsen's remarkable acting ability.

"We act as though it's a routine check. As they pass, we knock them out."

"No guns?"

Artisen shook his head. "At the first sound of a gun, the alarms will go off. and we want to wait for the distraction until Nina and Irik are in place."

"Right," Renton said, trying not to think about Eureka. "I can disable one of the guards.

"Then I have the other two."

Renton nodded, "What are you waiting for, then?"

Artisen smiled and started forward, "_you_."

It was a gamble. They weren't sure if the ship did any kind of regular check ups on the machines. Hopefully, with the experimental status of the cannons, that would be the case.

The first man on the left turned, noticing them. "What?" He said, his voice sharp.

"Check up," Artisen said casually, moving towards the man's console as if to tend something.

The first man grunted and stood up, "Well make it quick. I'm tired of the things."

They had gambled correctly. Now for part two. He took a deep breath and moved to the man at the third station. The three stood up and started for the door. Artisen acted before Renton. He threw his fist into the first man, knocking the soldier's breath right out of him. Artisen then grabbed him by the shoulder, twisted himself to the side, and threw him into the second man.

Renton panicked but ran forward. He threw his knee in the third man stomach. The man reached for his jacket where a communication device was most likely concealed. Renton wouldn't let him get that far. He grabbed the hand and span around him, twisting the arm up. His shoulder made a terrible popping sound. The man began to yell, so Renton ran forward and shoved him into the console. The man coughed.

The soldier bent forward and shoved off the console, throwing Renton in the opposite wall. A sharp pain shot through his shoulder and dazed him. By the time he gained composure, he could see the man running for the fallen device on the floor. Renton threw himself at him, sending them both into the opposite wall with a loud crack. He began to punch the soldier in the stomach, trying to disable him, but he wasn't strong enough. Back in the academy, no one knew him for his physical prowess or strength.

The man scrambled, pushing him to the side as he reached for the device. Renton grabbed the arm, but in the mess of keeping him down and from being able to reach, he felt himself lose control. The man grabbed the device.

And the man went limp on the ground, dropping it.

Renton pulled back and looked up to see Artisen standing there, dusting his hands on himself.

"We might need a better plan next time,"Artisen said with a sigh.

"What did you do to him?"

"Something with my foot," he said absent mindedly, "now to get this disabled. Come on, we need to hurry."

Renton stood up, feeling something strange at the back of his head. He touched it, expecting blood, but found nothing. He frowned, but decided to ignore it. They needed to get Eureka as fast as they could.

Clark tapped his fingers against the wall. He really couldn't hope for better. Alone with the girl of his dreams in an intense situation. What more could he want? But every time he tried to start a conversation with her, Sarah seemed cold and distant. Every time a sound was made at the door, she seemed jumpy and uncomfortable.

"Sarah," he said, quietly, "is something wrong?"

She didn't look at him, instead staring at the door. "No," she said, finally answering.

"What is it?" he said, resisting a frown. "Was it something I did or said?"

"You really are hopeless, aren't you? Pathetic," she stood up and walked to the door. Clark stared at her, mind turning blank like a white piece of paper. The insult didn't rub him the way he thought, he felt fine, despite it.

He stood up and walked over next to her side, twiddling his thumbs as he went. When he reached her, he caught a tear sliding down her cheek, which she quickly rubbed away. "Sarah, what's wrong?"

"Why can't you just leave it alone?" she said, almost pleadingly. Something was very wrong, he could feel it.

"Just tell me what happened. Are you sick?"

She laughed, "If it could only be so simple." She reached past her side into a pocket he never noticed and pulled out a small pistol, barely the size of his own palm. She pointed it at him, hole forward, the tip gaping wide.

He jerked back, throwing his hands into the air. "Alright, whatever I said, I'm sorry!"

"Shut up!" she said, her voice cracking, "I have to do this."

"No you don't," Clark felt the wall press up against him, but Sarah was no farther away. She inched toward him, the pistol coming closer. "Just tell me what it is. What is going on?"

The sharp tip pressed against his chest, prodding him. She gently reached up and stroked his cheek. He could feel her finger shaking as it tenderly caressed his jaw. He felt a strange mixture of fear and intimacy that mixed about as well as fire and gunpowder in his stomach. He would open his mouth to say something, but her gun would press harder, stopping him.

Her eyes looked up into him, wondering, almost lovingly. Honestly, it all terrified him.

"I almost believed I could do it," she whispered, staring at him. "But it's not meant to be, is it? Not for people like us. Artisen can keep on pretending, but I won't." She leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Don't worry. It won't hurt. And I'm so sorry."

Nina stopped at the corner, peeking around. For the most part, it was empty, as she could tell. She peaked down each hallway and no one was around. It left her feeling unsettled, but she saw Eureka's door just down the hall. She felt somewhat claustrophobic staring at it. The corridors were tighter here, barely enough for the both of them to walk through. No doors, dozens of tubes lined the walls, and nothing else.

"You sure that's it?" Nina asked, rubbing her side arm. She stopped, consciously resisting to keep doing that. Things she didn't understand always left her unsettled, and she rubbed her arms whenever she felt unsettled. Flashbacks to her childhood ran through her mind, which she quickly pushed out.

"I know it," Irik said, nodding. "That is the room."

They left the corner and began walking down the hallways. No alarms, no guards, or even a door stopped them along the way. They came up to a large door and stopped, staring at it.

"No pass code?" Irik said. Nina looked down, and to her surprise, he was right. Not a single passcode. Something didn't feel right.

"We should abort," she said, taking a step back.

"We can't," Irik said, taking a step forward. "Eureka just beyond this door. Let us just grab her and go. There's no need to stay here and wait."

"I don't know what it is, but something about this feels wrong. There are no guards, no even a camera. And doesn't the hall design feel strange to you?"

He looked back down the way they came, "Something does seem familiar about the design, yes. But I can't put my finger on it. I'm sure it will come to me, eventually. Meanwhile, we apparently have caught a time with no guards. Why not just take advantage now and get Eureka out. I'd rather not face the guards when they get back."

Nina hesitated to nod, the words only partly coming through. Her eyes were drawn to strange intricate designs on the walls, like the electrical pathways of a computer chip, tens of thousands of them. Why did they seem familiar to her too?

"Nina?" Irik said, who she found staring at her oddly.

"Right, let's go."

They both turned back to the door, Nina summoning everything within her to ignore instinct, which only made her more uncomfortable. But as far as she could tell, there was nothing wrong. The guards may have been switching out or the captain was overly confident about the preliminary measures taken in the floors above and below them.

She took a deep breath as she clicked down on a button. The door slid open. She froze in place, anticipating a trap, an alarm, or at least a beep from the locks, but only a soft hum came from inside. Carefully, they both entered. The room stood tall, perhaps six to eight stories at least. Tubes lined the walls by the hundred, twisting an bending over eachother like vein throughout the heart, pulsing with a beat.

A shiver ran down her spine. It all felt too alive. She dropped her awe of the room to the center where a small throne rose up on three tiny platforms. A girl sat in it, head hanging as though it were a corpse. Her hair was a brilliant white, like newly fallen snow. She slowly approached her, but Irik ran bast in a blur, rushing up and kneeling beside her.

"Eureka?" Eureka, are you alright?" he lifted her head up, hands fumbling past the hair. "Eureka, can you hear me?"

"Are you sure that's her? I thought she had teal hair."

"It is. It most certainly is. The machine may be having strange side effects on her biology," he reached a hand to her neck and let out a relieved sigh. "She's alive."

Nina paced around the machine, studying it. Hundreds of thousands of wires looked to dive up in a single wave and then wrapped around only her left wing, the purple one. They dug into the jelly like appendage like hungry ants looking for a feast. Her wing emitted a soft glow, and a rush of violet sprayed into the wires, diving back down into the thrown, and then rushing back up the walls.

"I'm not sure how to remove her from the machine," he said. Nine turned around to see Irik now touching the wires, gently pulling on them. "I'm not even sure what these are- ow!" He jerked away.

Nina rushed forward, seeing him hold his finger tenderly. "What happened?"

"It shocked me. As soon as the glow passed through, I felt a shock. This must be trapar energy. Fascinating."

"Can you or can't you remove it?" Nina asked, grabbing him by the shoulder. The guy was beginning to lose focus. Thank goodness she came instead of Renton. If Renton saw this, there's no telling how he would have reacted.

Irik stared at the wing, the wires. He dropped down and followed the wires into the throw itself. They all congealed together at the base, forming fewer but bigger pathways. His little search lasted a good ten minutes, each minute leaving her feeling more antsy.

"I haven't a clue," he said.

"Nothing?"

"The whole thing is of a foreign design I'm not familiar with. I can't imagine that they've been working on this technology for less than a decade. It's very developed and unlike anything the UF or POF has. The closest resemblance being that of the inverse drive itself, but," he shook his head and moved back forward, "it's been taken far beyond the next stage. This is more than a prototype, this is a working model, a final design."

Nina felt her insides shake. The cannons were a mere omen to the power of whatever this room generated. Power like this didn't belong on the planet, it was too much for one nation. They had to destroy it at any cost. Her finger twitched to the gun hidden in her lab coat. It would only take a shot, just a shot and she could save them all.

She slowly reached to her side and unsheathed the pistole, drawing it out and beginning to point.

"Nina, what are you doing?" The words sounded so far off. She stepped forward and placed the gun against Eureka's head.

Irik appeared in a flash, pulling the gun away. "What are you _doing? _ Are you crazy?" He said, pulling the guns from her head.

Nina shook her head, suddenly aware that she almost shot Eureka. "I don't know," she said, grabbing the side of her head. "I don't know what I was thinking. It just happened. I'm sorry, I wouldn't ever shoot her, I swear. For some reason it just sounded so reasonable."

"It's the inverse drive," he said, taking the gun. "Best that I keep this, then."

A slab of guilt fell on her chest. There must be one nearby. In UF training as well as POF, all spies were trained in recognizing and resisting the influence of an inverse drive. It was standard procedure. An inverse drive could make the tongue lose, a bribe seem that more tempting, or an idea irresistible. After years of training, the inverse drive here pulled one over her with ease. She never liked the idea of it or Slave Units. Something would have to be done about that, eventually.

"We may have no other choice. We may have to cut it off."

"Are you crazy?"

Irik shrugged, "This device seems to be embedded into her wing. As far as I can tell, the wings aren't essential to any life functions."

"She's corallian. You can't know that for sure."

"Actually she's not corallian," he said as he dropped down to study the lower wire meldings. "She's neither human or corallian, but something evolved beyond the two. I've done extensive study on it with the Doctor aboard our ship. We believe a transformation may have occurred during the Second Summer of love. Something similar may have happened to Renton."

"That's not helping."

Irik shrugged, "it helps me think to talk about the thoughts stirring around inside my head. I'm sorry, but I see no other option. Do you have a knife?"

Nina paused, wondering if this was Irik talking or the inverse drive.

"Nina, please, what other option do we have? I promise that I've thought through this carefully. I'm certain she'll live."

"You can't know that," she said, taking a step back. "I think we need to discuss this out loud."

"There's no time, Nina. _The knife."_ He took a step forward. A thought dawned on her, like a creeping bug on the back of her neck, almost too subtle to notice. The strange marking on the walls, the central tower, the changes of mood and their extreme intensity.

"Irik, we're in trouble."

"We don't have time for this!" he yelled, "give me the knife!"

"Irik, listen to me," she grabbed him by the shoulders. "we're inside of a giant inverse drive."

Irik froze, blinking hard as if having just awoken from a dream. "Of course," he said, looking around. "Why didn't I think about that before. That would explain these intense thoughts," he swallowed hard as though his throat were dry. "That's why the halls are empty, the impulses here are massive. I can barely think straight."

"I know. I'm feeling it too."

"Clearly. But now that we know this, I may be able to shut it down and then we might have an easier time removing Eureka. I think I saw a console by the door. Allow me to make sure. Meanwhile, see if you can awaken Eureka. She might be able to shed light on this predicament."

Nina nodded, feeling that to be the most sensible thing said out of the whole day. She started towards Eureka.

"Well that's disappointing," a voice boomed inside the room. Nina froze, pulling out her knife and turning around. There was no one there. She twisted back, scanning the walls, her eyes darting to the ceiling and the shadows. Nothing.

"You won't find me there, I'm afraid, or here. I transcend beyond the physical in this room."

"Inverse drive communication," Irik said, tapping his chin, "I thought it a theory alone."

"It seems nothing gets past the sun."

"You did. Neither my father or I could have imagined this, or her, as the solution."

"I'm sure you're more intrigued and fascinated than you're outwardly admitting," the voice wisped through her mind like steam lifting of ice. It made it hard to think, let alone talk. Irik seemed to have a better handle on the inverse drive than her.

"Who are you," Irik said, looking up to the ceiling."

"Tremor."

"Why did you let us come this far?"

The voice remained silent for a moment. "You're more perceptive than you give yourself credit for, Irik. I noticed you were aboard the moment you cracked the communications device. You really didn't think I wouldn't be scanning for such breaches in my security, did you?"

"I should have check," Nina whispered and then grabbed the side of her head. Powerful impulses flooded into her thoughts like a wave of water. She suddenly wanted to kill and to run, to hide and to scream. She grabbed both sides of her head and knelt down. Irik somehow remained standing.

"And what will you do with us now?" he asked.

The voice grumbled, "If you're trying to impress me, you're wrong."

"We snuck onto your ship without detection. We made it to the core without being stopped. And now your device didn't have the effect you hoped for."

"Please, I never know what this thing will do. I just like to mess around with the knobs and see what happens. Needless to say, I wanted to see how far you too would go before I'd have to kill you before you hurt my dear Eureka. That was rather surprising, and a first in my many experiments."

"Are you doing this for science then?"

"No."

"Then why, who are you."

"I told you, I'm Tremor."

Irik stopped his foot and shoved a finger at the ceiling. "You know what I meant!" he yelled, throwing a fist into the wall. He quickly recoiled, grabbing his wrist.

"Ah, there we are. So you do crack? At least you lasted longer than the girl. Well, I believe that's it then. I've seen what I've wanted. Our target is nearly in range. Once it is, we'll activate the weapon and everything in the room of not inherently corallian biology will be incinerated. It's been wonderful playing! Have a nice day."

The calm went silent. Irik crouched into the corner, hunched like a wounded and confused animal. Nina watched with curiosity, wondering if she could kill him before he pulled out the gun he stole. It would be risky, but she needed that gun. But she had to get out of the room, they had to find a way out, and they needed to take Eureka. Only Irik would know, but he looked to pathetically beaten in corner. Every since leaving the shuttle he's complained. Best to do away with him. Too much a distraction and a risk to the mission, but killing him would be a failure to the mission too. She simply didn't know what to do. She needed to think, she just needed a little more time to think. If only she could think.

Renton breathed heavily and wiped away a bead of sweat from his brow. Three men lay unconscious on the floor in front of him, bruised and beaten. To his side, Artisen worked at stripping the controls and ripping out the power connector, forcing the entire panel to shut off.

"That's the last cannon. I'll have to rig the door to shut and make it look like a glitch," he said, moving the dock. Renton toppled back up to his feet, barely finding the strength to pull himself up. His exhaustion stemmed from months without exercise and the weakness catching up to him.

"The human body drives me nuts, sometimes," Renton muttered as they left to the hall. "Don't you think they'll begin to catch on?"

"Possibly, but it's too late now. We've knocked out most of their cannons. At least enough that the reinforcements should be able to take on if they attack from both sides."

"And when should they arrive?" Renton asked as Artisen finished the lock hack and they began walking down the hall.

He made a small shrug, "Haven't a clue. Could be a thirty minutes, could be a couple of hours. Heck, could happen any second. The UF have high speed carriers capable of dropping to the earth plain in a manner of minutes to engage, but it all depends if theiy're near our route. It's too hard to say."

Renton and Artisen turned the corner and stopped. At the far end of the hall, a wall of bodies moved toward them, lumbering like quiets beast. All soldiers holding automatic and highly dangerous weapons marched with determination. Renton stood and and as naturally as possible, turned back around the corner and started walking towards the other end of the hall. They ran, quickly reaching the corner, and then stopped, meeting a wall of men like the pervious encounter.

Artisen cursed, pulling out a gun. Renton fell into an agressive stance, throwing his arms up around his head. Not much good it would do him, but he couldn't stop here and not try.

The wall of soldiers simply stared at them, eyes hidden by strange helmets that cut off near the end of the nose. They all wore a brilliant white, bearing a familiarity to an old enemy many years ago. The thought sent a shiver down his spine. That memory he wanted to forget as soon as possible.

"Relax," A voice said, one more familiar than any other voice he had heard except for his father's and Nina's.

"Termor?" Renton said, taking a step forward. The soldiers parted and a tall gangly man stepped through, his face bearing a cool whirly smile. It was his brother, he was sure of it, but something seemed different about him, familiar, but different. He couldn't decide what it was.

"How are you, brother?" he asked, resting his hands on his waste. "It's been a while!"

Renton felt a stab of confusion, uncertain whether to hug him or stay still. He could feel Artisen's eyes on him, eyes bustling with question, but taking the safe route of staying silent, and the thought began to stir in his head, the answer.

"You're the one who did all of this," Renton said, a cold wave rushing up his body from foot to head.

"You are correct," his brother said, a warmth and friendliness to his voice that made him seem neither warm nor friendly. He took a few steps forward and embraced Renton, his wiry arms like two shackled tightened around his shoulders. "It's good to see you."

"Why?" he said, keeping his arms stiff to his sides. "Why did you do it to her?"

"Necessities, collateral damage, the future. Many things, I suppose. You've never known me for my compassion, Eoin."

"Don't call me that," he said, voice icy. He clenched his fists together. "You don't deserve to call me that. You knew all along."

"Of course. Certainly father tried to keep it a secret, but I'm sure he knew that I wasn't nearly so naive and stupid."

"Is this revenge? Are you jealous?"

"Jealous?" Tremor said, looking genuinely confused. "Do you not see that we're standing aboard _my_ giant super weapon? I didn't disappear for the many months at a time like I did because I was _jealous_. Don't be silly," he reached up and patted Renton's cheek. "It's much more sophisticated than that, I'm afraid." He slowly turned and eyed Artisen curiously, his eyes moving as though choosing how to dissect the subject. "You."

"Me?" Artisen said, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, you?"

Tremor looked him up and down. "You're taller than I thought you would be in person."

"You've heard of me. Can't say that I'm surprised."

"I know you for your Guard," Tremor said, to which Artisen seemed to completely freeze. "Yes, these things aren't hidden to me, I'm afraid."

"How do you know that?" Artisen said, the humour in his eyes gone, leaving a strange hollowness in them.

"A mutual friend of ours. I also know you're supposed to kill anyone who knows. I would recommend that to be very _unwise_." He said, "and not to mention difficult."

Artisen stayed unusually still, his form seeming to tower over that of the taller Tremor, but the other didn't even flinch or avert his eyes. The two, unspeaking and unmoving, somehow throwing threats at eachother, and Renton could feel the electrical energy between them, yet saw nothing. Eventually, Artisen averted his eyes, conceiting defeat. "Don't kill the boy."

"I haven't the slightest intention to do so," Tremor said, shooting a smile to his brother. "I could have used him for experimentation years ago on the weapon, but I've grown fond of him. I'll instead make use of Eureka."

Renton stared at his brother, the sense of betrayal and hate building inside of his stomach. Years and years had passed away, and although Tremor had been mostly absent, when he was around, he acted like any other brother, teasing, bullying, helpful, and encouraging. Renton didn't want to admit it, but he had loved his brother and had been the only reason he had decided to join the military after his Father's consistent motivation to do so. The betrayal sizzled deep inside.

"I'm going to kill you," Renton said, staring at Tremor. His older adopted brother turned, eyes almost glimmering with maniacal humour.

"That would be _very_ hard. You're welcome to try."

"We'll stop you."

"If you're referring to those reinforcements that are coming from the UF capitol, I'm afraid you're mistaken, seeing as how that's our target. And I'm afraid you're little scientist friend and the spy girl were unsuccessful."

Artisen cursed as Renton realized their failure. They were outdone..

"As for the rest of your reinforcement. She'll be escorting you back to your temporary quarters." With that, Tremor turned around and left back through the opening and Sarah emerged from it holding a gun. Anger shook Renton's insides. He couldn't take it anymore. He rushed forward, fists swinging, until two massive arms like iron wrapped around him and stopped him in place.

"Stop it, kid. We're beat. Don't blow our chances for survival."

"What did you do?" Renton yelled at Sarah. She didn't respond, her face emotionless. A speck of blood stained the edge of her collar. "What did you _do_?"

"I always had the suspicion," Artisen said, voice dark. "But I couldn't very well risk exposing either of us."

Renton shoved himself out of Artisen's arms. "What are you talking about?"

"It's over. I belong to the Guard, a special order of people dedicated to maintaining the royal line. We're an ancient line of highly skilled spies. It runs in the family. My mother was of the same lineage, but she left it to be with my father. Hence, my being here. However, some in the family, although quiet, were not happy about it. They let it be."

"We didn't kill your mother, Artisen," Sarah said, "but we ought to have."

"I don't believe a single word that comes out of your mouths. Just take us to wherever you want to hold us in, Sarah. And leave us _alone_."

Sarah stared for a second and then nodded, pushing them forward with gun.

Eureka stared up at the night sky. It wasn't like Earth's sky, there were millions of stars, all of them, and she could see each and every one. She felt as though she knew them, bobbing up in the sky like glowing fish swirling around in the ocean. She smiled, wondering how she could feel so close and personal to something so abundant and so far away. She felt the water around her stir slightly, rippling as though disturbed.

She sat up and looked around her. Nothing. Blackness stretched on for forever. The water was completely dark, except for reflecting the sky above it, or maybe it was the sky reflecting back down. She couldn't tell.

"You need to stay awake, Eureka," a calm, smooth voice spoke. "You mustn't give up."

Eureka looked around. The voice rippled the black water around her, like an energy traveling through the air, vibrations. She looked behind and saw a figure standing in a white robe, arms clasped together inside two massive sleeves that drooped so far down as to touch the water. He bore a wide brimmed hat that overshadowed his face, masking it.

She didn't feel afraid of it, whatever it or he was, but she was certain it was a friend of some kind. "Who are you?" she said with a smile.

"An old friend, a reminder, and a protector."

"Do you own a name?" she asked.

"I do."

"What is that name?" she

"You gave it to me many years ago. Do you remember?"

Eureka frowned, playing with the thought in her head. She felt so young, so youthful, nothing like before. Though she couldn't remember what "Before" was, something that happened forever ago. It didn't really matter, but she needed to remember the name.

"Is this a game? Am I supposed to guess."

"No."

She frowned. Whoever he was, he didn't seem very playful. She sighed and tried to think harder. The name seem to dance on the edge of her tongue, like an old memory on the edge of remembering. "Bel- no wait," she tried to think harder, "Xellien?"

The figure seemed to glow brighter. "You are correct. That is my name."

"It's a silly name."

The figure seemed to smile, but she couldn't see its face. Why did she think it smiled?

"You did give it to me. But this is immaterial, I'm afraid."

"I don't think fun conversation is immaterial."

"No, I mean this world. You must leave here, while you are still able."

"But I like it here! She said, falling back into the black ocean, and staring at the sky. "It's not like the before."

"I know it hurts, Eureka. But you mustn't give up. Renton is here!" the voice seemed urgent, pleading.

"Who is he?" the named seemed so important, but it brought a strange and uncomfortable feeling into her stomach. She pushed herself deeper into the water. She didn't like that feeling. "He's lost."

"How many times must you run before you find there are no paths left to travel?" the voice asked. The ripples were all along the water now, everywhere. "I was sent to be your shield and your carrier through the times of trial, even a guide, when permitted. But if you run here, I cannot help you. You must return."

Eureka pressed further into the water, the liquid spilling into her ears. The voice became muffled and indiscernible. She liked it here. That thing could leave for all she cared. She continued to stare at the bright glowing stars above. She didn't know where here was, persey, but that really wasn't important. Nothing was.

A strange energy vibrated the air, like static. Renton ignored it.

The metal plates clinked beneath him with every step. He looked around at the metal halls, they never felt so close and solid before, like the walls of a cage. He felt trapped, if only physically. His mind gave up on trying to figure a way out, a new solution, a quick escape. They were out options. They had lost. After years of trial and separation, of constantly being pulled away from each other, he had reached the end, and it was without Eureka.

The dread pooled inside of him like a heavy water, dragging him deeper and deeper into depression. All those years ago felt like yesterday, when he ran from the Gekko-Go, fleeing from his fears, troubles, and pains. But here aboard a foreign ship, there were no doors, no escapes, just more walls.

"Renton," he heard Artisen speak barely at a whispering volume. His lips scarcely move, "Don't lose hope."

_Too late,_ he thought, trying to keep the dread from breaking down completely, but Artisen's words triggered old memories from a conversation years ago. Artisen's chastisement of his self pity and dread, Renton's ongoing weakness since he could remember. After so many years he still couldn't get it right? He wanted to slap his own face.

An image flashed before his eyes, the strange memory of Eureka kissing him under a rocky canopy next to the night sky. The memory felt fresh and new, like it only happened just moments ago. Somehow, for whatever reason, he knew that they still had a chance.

His step became more firm and his pace steady. Back and shoulders straight, he knew that the last moment to give up was not now. Never before had _he_, the real Renton, been this close too Eureka in years. He wouldn't give up. Baby Renton was dead, now was the time to fight.

There was always hope.


	14. Chapter 23: One Last Shot

**Chapter 23: One Last Shot**

Renton came to the door, breathing slowly. Neither he or Artisen understood the ship very well, so as far as either of them knew, this door could lead anywhere. Renton quickly studied the lock and its mechanical design from the shape and design. It looked familiar to many UF mechanism he had seen, and was probably identical. If he was right, they could find a way out.

A strange, almost static like energy seemed to emit from it, like a pulse. He frowned, the feeling seeming odd but familiar in some way. Where did he know this feeling from? It didn't matter, he had to ignore it for now.

He readied to go in, but stopped. How had he had that much time to analyze the door? Slowly to turned around with Artisen, both facing Sarah, who was crying.

Tears streamed down either side of their face.

"Sarah?" Artisen said softly.

"I don't know what I'm doing anymore. None of this makes sense," she whispered, almost whimpering. It was fortunate none of the guards had escorted them.

"Relax," Artisen spoke in a smooth, calming voice he hadn't heard before. "What are you talking about."

"I didn't tell them about Clark. He's not dead, if that is what you were thinking."

Artisen stared at her, hard. "Yeah, I sort of thought that. You?" he glanced at Renton. The thought hadn't actually occurred to him. He had been so caught up with Eureka, it never registered. He nodded anyway.

"Well he's not. And this isn't the room I'm supposed to take you to," she said, breathing strangely. "It's the hanger. I can't help you once you're inside. I can't risk exposing myself, you don't know how dangerous a man like Tremor can be."

"Why are you doing this?" Artisen asked. "After the pacts? And the Guard?"

"Because maybe," she said, wiping her cheek, "I'm a little more like your mom than you think. Artisen, she is alive, I swear it. Along with your father."

Renton's old friend stirred, his body visibly shaken from those words. He believed her. "We can't discuss this now. You need to come with us."

"I can't," she said through coughs, as though she were trying to suppress wailing. "If I go, I won't be able to cover your tracks. I need to head to the bridge. There I can make a difference."

"Where is Clark?"

"He's in the shuttle. I shot him with a tranquilizar. He has a note with instructions on what to do." He'll take the shuttle and flee."

Renton nodded, feeling relieved. At least Clark would be safe, but that didn't change anything for the rest of them. "We can't leave." he said.

She shot him a look of horror. "What do you mean you _can't_? You _have_ to. I don't think your brother will be so kind the second time around."

"No, he's right," Artisen said, "This weapon is too dangerous for anyone to have. Do you know if he has more?"

She shook her head, "As far as I know, this is the only one. He has many more sites, but they're a long ways away from completion, years."

"Then if we destroy this one, we can stop the others."

"Impossible, this ship is heavily manned and extremely resistant to hand held explosives, not that you could find anything like that on the ship."

"Could we overload one of the cannons? Cause it to explode?" Artisen suggested.

A burst of static energy came from the door, washing over Renton. He frowned and turned back.

"What is that feeling?" he whispered. "Who is calling me?"

"An overload? That's not how those weapons work!" she said, "they pull the energy from the surrounding trapar.

"There has to be a way!" Artisen yelled, "You have to _think_, Sarah."

The voice of the two began to fade away as Renton focused on the vibrations coming from beyond the door. So familiar and yet new, unlike anything he had experienced before. He knew that feeling from somewhere before.

Slowly he put his hand against the door.

_Renton, come now. _The voice spoke to him, almost as clearly as though it were a spoken. He knew that voice, and though he didn't know how, he finally had an idea.

"I know what to do," Renton said, a smile escaping to his lips. "Trust me, there's a much better way." He hit the lock and let the door open to a massive room. The size of it was several soccer fields long. Rows of KLFs and SU lined the floor, a full ten squadrons mixed of both sights.

His eyes ignored those and looked down bellow them to the floor beneath the railing where the Xellien sat. The frame was cracked in several places, dents in others, and bullet holes in many many others.

"_That_?" Artisen said, "You're kidding, right?"

Renton shook his head. He ran out down past the stairs and ran up beside the ruined Xellien. It truly was battered and beaten, scarcely holding togethering with a few bolts and nuts. The vibrations were powerful, like a sunlight on his face, shining with hope and recalling old memories with the Nirvash. Xellien, just like her, had always been there for him, like a vehicle through their trials.

"We can do this. But we'll need time," Renton said.

"_We?"_ Sarah asked.

"Don't ask about what you don't understand," Artisen answered for him. "What do you want us to do, Kid?"

"Get to shuttle and be ready to meet me just over the cannon power core. We'll get the others together."

"How will we know when?" Sarah asked.

"Trust me, you'll know." He looked back at Xellien, ready to work, but felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back at Artisen.

"Kid, you sure you know what you're doing? It doesn't have a board. I doubt it will ever fly."

He honestly didn't know. Xellien spake to him and an idea span through his head, but somehow he knew whatever it was would work. Something always worked.

"Trust me, I don't need it to fly. Just climb, a little. Trust me. I got this." Artisen held the gaze for one more moment, then smiled and saluted him.

"Well, off to battle then!"

Eureka opened her eyes towards the sky, something had changed. There weren't as many stars as there were before. Where once billions covered the infinite scape of space, she now only saw millions. She pulled herself out of the black ocean to get a better look at something forever away.

"What's happening?" she asked as the water drained from her ears. Cool air entered in to replace it.

"Your world is closing. Soon, you may not be able to see," Xellien said who stood close by like a ward of protection. "Soon I will go too."

"There are still many stars," she began to count them, but started feeling tired. Sleep sounded much better. Instead, she closed her eyes and leaned back down into the water.

Irik's mind felt blank. He had never felt this way before, so devoid of thought and mental energy. The room felt small, as though pressing down on him, trying to crush him. He tried to divert his attention away, to look at the ground and think about the component material it would require to develop an alloy that would accept the current fluidic energy of trapar. It would require some work, some math, and heavy chemistry. At that thought, his mind went blank.

Maybe not thinking would be easier, but he couldn't help it. As soon as the thought fled, it came back again, like a Starfish flapping about looking for trapar to glide on. His mind went back, calculating and thinking about the metal, dissecting it in his mind.

He began to tap and scratch at the metal, thinking for some reason it would help.

Artisen and Sarah climbed into the shuttle, the guard outside out cold from their arrival.

"He'll know we're coming," Artisen said, glancing at the young woman beside him. Before she seemed young and immature, and she still did. That probably wouldn't change for a while, she was only 19, but a red hue mixed with the white of her eye. Two dark bags hung from bellow, signs of fatigue and sleepless night. He knew those eyes. Guilt.

"If we leave soon enough, it won't matter," she said, eye twitching.

He sighed, choosing his words carefully before speaking them. "Why did you do it?"

She didn't respond.

"If you want to stay quiet, that's your prerogative, but eventually you have to explain yourself, especially to him," he said, pointing to the sleeping Clark in the back. "And frankly, I have a feeling he's the reason."

"Don't talk about things you don't understand," she said, struggling with a few of the controls. Artisen reached over and flipped two switches beside her. She returned the favor with a glare.

"I think I do. I've been led to believe my mother is dead and my father is dying. The others in the family have all but berated us, threatened us, and hunted us for our entire lives. We become the best of the best because of it, but I guess she couldn't hide forever."

"We didn't kill her!" she yelled, slamming her hands on the table. "She's alive, whether you want to believe it or not. But she is sick."

Artisen resisted the urge to yell back. With every dealing concerning the Guard, his emotions stayed in check. Just like himself, they were experts and master of manipulation and emotional trickery. Not matter how hard she played it, he couldn't fully believe. This is the past he had resisted so many times and his largest reason for joining Gekko-Go. Ever since his involvement with Renton, his mind began to forget completely.

He studied her eyes a moment that refused to look at him. Her gaze went somewhere beyond the canopy and out into the neverending sky. A gleam of something streaked down her cheek. Her emotions were racked and twisted.

"Do you know what it's like," Artisen said slowly, "to believe your parents are dead until your sixteen? Then to discover that they were killed by the very people carrying for me since I was four?"

She shifted in her seat and began to fidget with her hands. More tears streamed down her cheek. Artisen didn't feel a thing for it.

"They thought they had," she said, voice quiet.

"It was your parents, Sarah. If that's even your name," he rolled his eyes and sat back. "Don't think I would believe it for a second."

"Then why are you letting me come this far?"

He shrugged. Instinct saved his life countless times before in the most hopeless of situations. His instincts told him she, at this point, wanted to help him. Also, he couldn't imagine how letting Renton into the Xellien and he back into the shuttle did any favors for Tremor. But whatever the reason were, they were probably selfishly driven, and the Guard didn't really ever pick a side with any commitment. This probably involved him somehow.

"Artisen, I know they did," she whispered, trying to conceal the whimpers squeezing out between breaths. "But they're my parents. Did you think I wouldn't try to believe them too?"

"You knew as well as I did they murdered them."

"I had every right as their child to believe that they did it for the right reasons."

Artisen resisted the urge to clench his teeth. "I treated them like my parents. I treated you like my sister. And why? Because I thought that is what you were to me. I love you, honored you, and followed up to all of the conditions of the family. And then I discover the truth."

"You have to believe me. They're sorry."

Artisen couldn't measure the sincerity of her voice, and even if he could, he wasn't sure he would trust it. Sarah was at one time his sister, in a way. Not by blood. By blood, they were actually cousins, but they were both raised by the same man and women. All the memories were coming back, fresher and fresher.

He stood at his "parents" main computer, studying through old documents and mission files passed along with the order. Master spies, special training regimes, old secrets that would possibly start a war here or there, small ones. And amongst all the files, there was one with little detail on its purpose or objective. Unfortunately for them, they underestimated his abilities. He tracked the document down it its original file and discovered that he had been adopted, his parent murdered, and the murderers were the very people raising him.

That day almost anything could have happened. He thought of killing them, the betrayal burning him alive inside. Then he thought of taking his own life, the depression pushing close to an edge with a bottomless end.

Eventually he just ran and avoided the Guard. They tried to catch him, and many times, they almost did, but he learned to blend into everywhere and everything. And every time they thought they caught up, they found themselves several steps behind, and usually in the wrong direction. He searched to find his grandparents on his father's side, but found nothing. His search revealed that his mother had covered her tracks before her death.

A pang shot through his stomach. Everything he found on his mother revealed that he had apparently taken after her. She was the best in the guard, unmatched in skill and intelligence. Her wit and humour kept her alive in a number of situations, and above all else, she didn't agree with the Guard.

His mind drifted back to the present inside the small shuttle. He had almost forgotten where he was.

"I'm sorry, Artisen. I may never earn your trust back, but if it means anything at all, I just couldn't believe they did it. I searched to and found nothing. I was assigned to Tremor to be his personal Guard of intelligence so I could gather as much information as I could about him and his operations. It's taking me a long time, but when I began feeding him information about the Night Iris and its crew, I had successfully obtained it. Then I fell in love with _him_," she said. Artisen didn't need to hear it to know she was referring to Clark. "I don't even know why I like him. I've never met someone so sincere."

"They're addicting people to be around," Artisen said. "I'll give the boy credit for that. He's a little slow and really rubs me the wrong way, but he is sincere and he doesn't hide it. It reminds me of Renton, actually."

"I'm so sorry, Artisen." He turned to find her staring at him, her face dripping from the tears, but not a whimper left her mouth. "I'm sorry for everything."

Artisen stared at her, his heart turning. He took a deep breath, reached out, and took her hand. The motion scared her and she nearly pulled it away, but instead kept it still. "For the last several years, I've been drinking hot water by myself. If we make it out of this alive, we'll get some hot chocolate and you can tell me everything in detail."

"Hot water? But you love hot chocolate. We always drank it together on the weekend back at the house," she paused and then froze, a look of realization on her face.

"I couldn't give up the habit, so I switched out the chocolate for nothing, reminding me everyday why I left."

The tears slowed. "So you trust me?"

He shook his head, "Trust takes a very long time to earn back, especially when dead parents are involved. I still don't know if my parents are alive or not, but you'll have plenty of time to prove it to me."

"I will," a bit of hope edging her voice, "I'll show you. I promise. I won't stop until we're brother and sister again."

Artisen actually found himself smiling. "Alright, but let's get out of this alive first."

Renton sat up as he made the last hotfix he could think of. The console had been ripped off, wires and chip boards shot out like spilt spaghetti, all connected in what seemed like chaos, but Renton understood it all. It may have been a few years, but his skills in engineering and mechanics hadn't worn a day older. It all felt fresh. But the sight of his handiwork didn't settle the bigger problem.

The inverse drive sat broken, cracks running up along the walls of it like webs, millions of them. He wondered how it all kept together. If Eureka could do it all those years ago with the nirvash, maybe Xellien could do it to. What he couldn't give for an amita drive. With that, he could perhaps unlock the Xellien too, but that technology was all but lost. No one could replicate that genius.

He took a deep breath and laid a hand on the console.

"Xellien, this isn't anything new. We both know what we need to do, and whatever it takes, I'm willing to do it. But I need you to push a little harder. I know you're low on energy and fuel, but we have just enough left that we could do it. Let's save them and everyone else on this planet. Let's make a difference."

A blue shot up the inverse drive, bright and powerful. The engine roared to life, shaking the Xellien. And after a split second, the cockpit snapped shut, sealing him inside. Xellien stood up, planting both feet firmly, if but barely. Renton stared out across the hundreds of KLFS and SU's. His eyes were drawn to three small structures he noticed in the schematics, the housing for the pilots so they might be ready at any time for an emergency.

He locked his jaw, "First things first."

It stood in the distance, a white line running up and away from the horizon. It stood as a symbol of strength and a reminder of where they all came from. The command tower, bearing the shuttle that once carried away their ancestors and returning them again. It was still the UF's base of operations, now filled with military admirals and generals where the sages once sat. The respect for royalty had all but fallen in the culture of the UF, the military were in control now, thanks to Dewey Novak.

It was the perfect target to test the new Trapar Cannon aboard the ship, The Megalith. He smiled. What a suitable name for a ship of this firepower. One shot from the cannon at the base would be enough to cut it right in half and melt most of the city. The results politically, socially, economically, and so forth would completely crush the UF. The POF would be tricky, but he figure he had a good start with the Night Iris.

All these plans had meant to been activated ten years from now, when he would be able to better circulate and control the trapar. But with the discovery of Eureka and the exposure of his ship to his father, he didn't have much choice.

"Master," Left said, he stood behidn him. "The weapon is charged and ready."

"We're almost in range," he replied. "Only a minute or so now."

"We still have time to relocate the man and the woman inside the chamber. If you so desire."

"Oh yes, those two," he paused and thought if either would be useful. Irik would most likely resist him and the influence of the Inverse Drive would likely break his intelligence before his will. And the Nina girl was unstable and untrustworthy, a dangerous asset if if she could be brainwashed. "No, leave them there. Their biological makeup will most likely be incinerated in the blast, so no need to carry them out."

"Very well, Master Tremor."

"Prepare the weapon and take aim. It's time to make history seven years ahead of schedule."

Renton stepped away from the flaming structures. His stomach turned and twisted at the idea of what he just did, but he felt he had no other choice. If anyone of them stopped him from completing his goal, a lot more would be at stake.

He moved towards the hangar doors. His last missile blasted open a crack just big enough to get through. The alarms sounded, blinking red as air vented out into the low density atmosphere outside. They must be pretty high up.

A few loud dings sounded off his side. He looked down to see two guards shooting at him with pistols. They wouldn't be much of a threat. So he walked over them and leaned out the hole and then looked up. From this angle, and even inside of a giant walking mech, he felt incredibly small. But with a little handy work, he could probably make it work.

The Xellien reached outside and grabbed a beem. With great resistance, it pulled itself up and grabbed at another pannel. In no time at all, he was making his way up the wall.

The comm light blinked. He frowned, trying to think who would be communicating with him. Hesitantly, he reached down and flipped the switch.

"Renton, you have to hurry," Artisen said, "something strange is going on. The entire ship is beginning to glow."

"The gun is charging. I recognize this from before," Sarah said, voice frantic, "when he first charged the weapon months ago. We only have a minute, maybe less."

Renton felt his head jump. He didn't think he had that much time. He began to climb faster. "On it!"

Irik scratched at the floor, barely even thinking. The inverse drive exerted such pressure on his thoughts he wasn't even sure what he could call what it was he was thinking.

He pulled his fingers away and saw he found little silver flakes sticking to them. He studied them in his hand. The floor had been spotless, even flawless. Not a speck to be seen. So he glanced to the area where he scratched and found the metal scraped. He looked between the finger and the scratch in the metal.

A burst of knowledge flashed through his mind. For a moment he had his intelligence back. He felt like the light had been turned on in a lightless room. His mind surged, calculating and punching through equations in his mind. He knew exactly what he needed. A knife and a gun, and fortunately he had both.

The walls around him began to glow not a moment sooner. He smirked. It looked like this Tremor guy underestimated him after all. He rush over to Nina.

"Sir," Right said, "We've had an incident. Our hanger has been attacked and all the pilots are unavailable."

"Cause?" He said, glancing down at the timer on his armrest. forty five seconds.

"The Xellien. It appears to be moving on its own. We don't know how it activated."

"Best we not take too few precautions. Take Left with you and use the emergency launch units. Subdue it immediately."

"Yes Master Tremor," the both moved off the bridge simultaneously. Forty seconds.

Irik's hands shook as he snapped open the bullet casing. He began to pour the gunpowder into his hands. The glow on the walls had become very bright. It would fire at any time now, and the only thing left alive would be Eureka, he guessed.

Renton climbed up over the edge. Artisen wasn't lying. The entire ship had a deep bright glowing purple color about the hall. It moved and shifted like rippling water across the ocean. The whole thing had come to life, an organism of its own kind bent for a purpose too terrible for anyone of them to comprehend.

He had to think fast.

Two green splashes burst from the crown of the ship, twisted back, and began surfing down his way. His onboard camera zoomed in, enlarging them enough for him to see. They both revealed a blue and red KLF of a strange model he had never seen before. One was bulky and clunky like an SU, while the other was skinny and fast, like the Nirvash.

They had lost. He wouldn't have the time now to stop it.

Tremor stood up from his seat and began to walk towards the viewport. Each step carefully fell into place, as though it had been rehearsed a hundred times before. He stopped exactly three and half feet from the screen, staring at the command tower stretching all the way up into the sky and somewhere beyond. Many years he pondered this moment, the beginning of his new world. It might be ahead of schedule, but that was never a bad thing.

The timer popped up on screen, counting down from five.

He smiled, locking his hands together behind his back.

Four…

The bridge grew quiet, crews allowing the captain to enjoy the moment as they had been commanded.

Three…

The world turned violet, probably a result of the trapar field encapsulating the entire ship, not just the inverse reflective plating.

Two…

His stomach turned slightly with excitement, about a centimeter exactly.

One…

The field dispersed, dissipating in a burst and the horizon returned back to its normal color. Tremor waited a moment and then frowned. The tower still stood.

"What happened?" He asked, looking back to his crew.

"We're not sure sir. The trapar filled inside the main chamber has been disabled. We're looking into it now."

Tremor tapped his foot. _Blast_, he thought, _I had timed that perfectly too._

The weight and pressure lifted from Irik's mind immediately. He took a deep breath, the air feeling lighter than ever and his thoughts a free as a new flying bird.

He looked down in shock. An experiment that finally went right the first time, he couldn't believe it. The mixed mineral of the gunpowder contained the necessary ingredient to disrupt the trapar's fluid energy field. But it wouldn't last. The gunpowder sprinkled across the strange web like tendrils that dug into Eureka wing sparkled and flashed as they were quickly spent. It was only a matter of time before they completely dissolved. It would only give them enough time to escape, hopefully.

He quickly ran over to Nina and slung her arm over his shoulder. They just had to make it to the maintenance hatch.

Renton readied himself for the blast, but it never came. The entire field of turning purple rippled and then popped like a bubble.

"What happened?" Renton asked.

"A miracle," Artisen replied, "look out, you have oncoming. I hope you still have that plan of yours."

"It could work," Renton said, looking up at the sprays of green. They were close enough now he could make their features. "Anything you could tell me about those two KLF's?"

"The red one is RED and the blue one is BLUE. They're piloted by two men called Left and Right. They're sworn to the service of Tremor and his family."

"I don't suppose then they would make an excepiont for me, would they?"

The comm was silent. "Most likely not. You have to be careful, Renton. They're dangerous men, especially blue. He may be the leaner of the two, but his is the quickest KLF to date. Your model is outdated and outclassed in comparison. The Red model is the strongest KLF to date, especially compared to your model."

"So I'm outnumber and outdated? Do I have any advantages?"

"They aren't equipped with jet fliers like you, so only their boards will give them any lift."

"Artisen, ideas?"

"Kid, you and I both know how much I dislike flying an LFO let alone a KLF. But I have faith that you'll be able to figure it all out.

_Just my luck,_ he thought and then dashed off in a bad run towards the two targets. They both wavered, surprised at his suddenness. The first one, lighter of the two, backed off, swerving away while the third red one continued to charge relentlessly. Xellien may be damaged, but that didn't make it any less nimble.

He pushed the Xellien forward, running as fast as possible. The red KLF swerved down, bearing a massive hammer. Renton dashed forward and dove, sliding right under it's Ref board. Using a burst of his left rocket only, spinning him like a far. He kicked out his leg, swinging it right up at the KLF and snapping the massive ref board in half.

The Red KLF flew from the board and slammed back down onto the ship, flopping all the way. Xellien barely skidded to a halt before standing back up. His attack had worked better than he hoped. He glanced at the diagnostics. The right knee joint had suffered some moderate damage, but not enough to disable it. He breathed a sigh of relief.

The Xellien lurched forward, slamming him into his seat and knocking the air right out of him.

The bruised LFO tripped and fell into an inverse reflective plate that cracked from the impact. He twisted the Xellien around to the Blue KLF swinging back around for another go, a small one handed hammer in its right hand.

Renton turned around to run but found himself pinned as the other Red KLF had hopped back to its feet and was charging him like an angry rhino. A tickle of panic hit his chest. He didn't know how much time he had left before the cannon was up and running again.

He looked around for ideas but had none. A piece of of the board, the latter half, laid at his feet, but it didn't make a difference either way. He was pinned down. If he attacked Blue, then he would expose himself to Red, and visa versa. The odds were not in his favor.

Red came up on him fast, raising his hammer. He ran through a few second ideas, but nothing helped. He close his eyes, bracing for impact, when Red suddenly snapped to the side and slammed to the ground as if hit by something moderately big.

"That's all we got, Kid! Go now!" Artisen yelled. Renton caught the faintest flicker of a few broken cloaking panels flying away from him. They had rammed blue. That gave him just enough time for his first idea.

He crouched down, grabbed the board, and spun back around, using the left rocket to add just a little more spin and then let go right at Blue. The pilot never saw it coming, but his reflexes were faster than Renton anticipated. The KLF jumped of its board and span to the side. Renton's projectile cut off the mechanical arm, sending it flying away along with the one handed hammer.

It toppled and hit the ground before quickly rolling back up to its feet. Renton couldn't understand how anyone could handle that many G's without knocking out, unless they were both using Inverse Drives to keep them conscious and focused.

In the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of Red. He ducked immediately. Not a second later, a massive hammer flew over him. He twisted around and stuck out his leg, knocking the KLF right off its feet. The hammer fell from its hands and landed right beside the Xellien.

Renton quickly reached to pick it up, but it was too heavy for the Xellien to lift. He resisted a curse and jumped back away, clearing himself from both Red and Blue.

Blue was now one armed and Red looked pretty beat up. It might be strong and fast, but apparently the overall build wasn't to keep it from cracking under a few simple falls. A few more might just do them in, but he had to act fast.

He stopped and tried to gather his thoughts or find something that would allow him a chance out, but found nothing except for the broken panels that he had cracked earlier, but the panels would be too brittle to make any significant damage. That left him only one last options. He turned around and ran as fast as he could. He found himself staring at the edge toward the earth thousands of feet below. For the first time in years, he felt a little woozy.

"Kid, you need to get moving."

"I know, I'm thinking."

"They're right on your back. It's now or never."

Renton whipped around and found them both an arms length away. He stared at them and had a sudden thought. He reached out and grabbed them both and then leaned back, jumping off. Neither could resist the kamikazee move.

They both fell through the air, toppling. Xellien easily kicked off Blue. It spiraled off towards its doom. Red, however, grappled on. Renton lifted both of Xellien's massive arms and swung them back down, smashing the chest. The entire frame cracked and then exploded, shooting Xellien right back up into the sky. It drifted up before activating its back jets. It then hovered back up and grabbed the edge of the ship before cutting off.

Renton let out an exaggerated breath. "That was rediculous!"

"Are you alive?" Artisen yelled. "You went right off the edge!"

"I jetted my way back up. Thanks to Sarah. I wouldn't have thought to do that for not what she said."

"Hey, I gave you some interesting background knowledge to boost your spirits and thinking."

"Shut up Artisen," he climbed back up over the edge and onto the top of the massive airship. The location was still far away, but he should be able to make it there soon. He began to jog along, trying not to put too much strain on the weakening knee joint.

"I think we have this guys. Lucks in our favor!" Artisen yelled excitedly. "We just picked up Irik and Nina, they're both okay, just a little shell shock. Apparently the did find Eureka."

"And?"

"Irik said she's alive, but they've done something to her wing he doesn't quite understand."

"It's strange, Renton," Irik's voice came over the comm. "They are using her in the fashion that I had mentioned before, but the manner and technology is still peculier to me. I can disable it, but I'm not certain how to remove it. Her biology is still very strange to me. I'm not entirely sure how she even survives the room."

Renton was about half way there. He had to keep to his faith, no matter what. He would find a way. They always found a way. "It's alright, Irik. Thank you for trying."

"I'm sorry."

"We're not done yet. Can you point me to her room exactly."

"Yes, I'm sending the projected coordinates to the Xellien right now."

A three dimensional schematic came onto the display. One red dot marked Eureka's coordinates while another marked his. He focused his eye back out the viewport and saw the panels beginning to glow purple.

"Hurry," Artisen yelled.

"Red and Blue are down sir," a crewman said from his station to Tremor's right. The word's didn't affect him at all..Rarely anything did since a few years ago. All that mattered now was the precise and calculated moves. Everything was a chain of actions and reactions. Knock down the right pit in the right place, and one is sure to knock down everything else.

"No worries, it appears our weapon is back online. Charge and fire," he said with a smile of satisfaction. He turned around and sat back down in his throne. A game of chess was much easier when no one else knew how to play. Going to the future was the best and most calculated decision he ever made. Xellien dead and General Collin lived on in another man's body, specifically this boy named Irik. No one had any idea that Collin had survived his death/

His plans were back in motion, only roughly more than a few decades later. Xellien had only postponed the inevitable. Collin or Tremor, they were really one in the same now, would finally finish it all.


	15. Chapter 24: The Last Goodbye

**Chapter 24: A Last Goodbye**

Eureka opened her eyes. In the sky far above her there was only one star left. Everything around her had turned black except for the star, herself, and the man called Xellien beside her.

"We're all that's left in your world," it said, looking up at it.

"We? There's still the star," she said, longing for the other stars. Things were so dark now.

"No, that is him, the last of all with to whom you still connect. All others are lost."

"I don't understand, who is he?" she said, staring up at the star.

"You must remember for yourself. I cannot tell you."

She remembered this game. They had played it before with it's name, whatever it was. She sighed and tried to think hard about it, but the name came much faster than Xellien's.

"Renton," she said, staring up at the little light. "He's all I have left?"

"Yes, and he means very much to you. If you stay here any longer, you will lose him."

The ocean shook once, like a deep riveting tremble. She felt like emerging herself back into the water and forgetting everything, but she wouldn't, not this time.

"But he's still here. He would never leave me."

"He isn't, he's trying to save you. But you refuse to see it."

"No! I just don't want to hurt anymore," she said, whining. She froze, realizing how she sounded. "I feel like a child."

"You've not only separated yourself from the world, but your mind. Soon, you will be nothing."

"And Renton?"

"To you, he will be as though he had never existed."

Eureka shook her head. "But I love him."

"You remember?"

She nodded slowly. The whole world trembled again, but this time it didn't stop. It continued to shake, the whole world she created for herself. Deep beneath the water the earth broke and light shot up between the cracks. Thousands of stars flickered back into existence above her, then tens of thousands, hundreds, millions, and more and more. The sky cracked, light pouring through. It burned her skin and mind. Everything around her began to shake. It all immediately began to seal back up again.

"No Eureka, you must fight on! Don't give into the pain. Accept it! Don't let it defeat you!"

"But it hurts so much!"

She felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to find Xellien kneeling beside her in the saking world, pain racking her body all over. The machine was working on her.

"I know," he said, his voice more tender than she had ever heard before. "I promise that I will stay with you, even if you can no longer see me. And I promise, it will not last. You can beat this, don't let it beat you."

She looked back up into the infinite ceiling above her, towards the sky that never had an end. The cracks were ceiling shut, the pain fading back into numbness and nothingness. She could let it slip like she did many times before, but in the end, she knew she couldn't. He was out there somewhere waiting, trying to get to her, and she had to live long enough to see him at least one last time.

All her memories came flooding back, all twenty seven years in an instant. The sky shattered and she screamed, finding herself sitting in the throne. The walls were glowing brightling, almost as like the sun. They blinded her and burned over and through her flesh. Her whole body filled with pain from electrical burst. She could feel the trapar moving into her wing and her whole body then back out into the tendrals. The whole process was a part of her, she was the weapon.

She cringed, sorrow and dread pouring through her heart like a never ending waterfall. What was she about to do? Who would die as a result of her?

She looked up to the ceiling, heart shaking as though ready to break. "Renton! Please! I'm not giving up!"

"Eureka!" Renton yelled and slammed down into place. He dug both arms into the metal, planting himself firmly. Not a second later, he reached over, grabbed both knobs, and pushed them forward.

The rockets on the back of Xellien exploded to life, creating massive columns of fire that reached into the sky. The Xellien lurched down under the weight, the arms cracking, but somehow they held.

The whole ship ducked towards, the tip aiming further and further towards the horizon, the cannon aimed farther away from the tower. For some reason he felt like he had done this before, and something else told him this would work.

"What's happening?" Tremor yelled down at the personnel in the crew pits beneath him.

"We don't know sir! The ship is turning down and we don't know why- Sir, please no!" Tremor shot him and holstered his gun. The rest of the crew turned silent in their frantic yells a their commander and master hopped down into the crew pit. He pushed aside the dead body and manned the controls.

"I will not have this miss again!"

The massive airship began to slow and then gently started to turn back up. Renton yelled, his voice ringing inside his ears. He wouldn't give, not now, not after all of this.

"Xellien! Help me save them all. Please!"

The inverse drive cracked and shattered, the pieces shooting around in a vortex of spinning glass. Small tendrils shot out, digging into the controls and panels. Everything began to glow, the light shifting and turning like the surface of water. The back of Xellien exploded, the flames taking on a deep purple hue and splashing like water. It shot like a geyser from the back, two massive columns. Xellien pushed down harder and harder. It broke through the layer, slamming to the floor below it.

The airship began to turn down much faster, beginning to aim at the ground billow. The glow began to race across the surface of the ship like flowing water, twisting into a ball of swirling energy at the nose of the ship. It began to spin faster and faster, becoming more violent and unsettled. It condensed, forming into what looked like a spinning storm. Renton could barely see it over the rim of his self made crater. It looked something reminiscent of the The Zone that Renton had seen so many years before.

The ball fired, the trapar energy shooting towards the desert wasteland beneath them. It burrowed into the earth and then exploded. The earth peeled off from the explosion, turning the substance beneath it into boiling hot lava. The landscape continued to peel. Everything twisted and turned, burning and churning as though they had blasted a hole into the underworld itself.

Unlimited power. Renton looked up at the horizon to see the wave of chaos stretched on for miles and mile, stopping somewhere near where the command tower stood. To his relief, it appeared that nothing in the city below had been damaged. A ring of water still surrounded it, untouched.

He shook his head tenderly. The weapon needed to be destroyed. He looked down at the ground around him. The entire floor had bent down several meters down. Miraculously it all kept together, somehow.

His own personal inverse generator glowed with life at the helm. Using the renewed energy he lifted his fists and began to slam downward, cracking through the next floor and falling down. Just three more levels to go.

Tremor stared at the ground beneath them, nothing but fire and flame. The plan had been disturbed, his careful calculations completely thrown off. Something had gone wrong and he wasn't sure what. He should have destroyed the Xellien when he had the chance.

He grabbed the control and began to spin the ship back up. If the scientists were right, Eureka had more than one shot left inside of her.

The ship began to dip back upwards, the Command Tower quickly coming into view.

Eureka's breath was faint and quick, as though she were stuck in an airless chamber. Her body still tingled from the massive energy that had shot through her. She looked down and saw the walls beginning to glow again around her.

"No, I can't do this. I can't feel that again." She looked towards the ceiling. "Renton!"

The ceiling above her cracked and normal sunlight poured through. She shielded her eyes and looked away as fragments of metal poured down around her. Two metal arms snuck through the crack and pulled open the entire ceiling. A massive figure dropped down into the room, landing into a massive crouching position around her.

It was the Xellien. Frame broken in several places, bullet holes, complete sections torn out, and yet its the entire body glowed with life.

"Renton?" she whispered. The cockpit opened and a man's face emerged, so much younger than the one she remember from seven years future's time. She smiled, glad that she endured and had come back.

"Eureka!" He slipped out of the cockpit and landed right in front of her. He then rushed up and threw her arms around her, taking her whole into an embrace. She felt a wamrth she hadn't felt in years fill her whole body. The missing pieces in her heart filled and understood. Now she understood everything.

"You're alive! You found me! I knew you would, Renton," she said, smiling. He held her cheeks, leaned down, and kissed her forehead.

"I won't ever leave you ever again."

She felt a turn in her stomach. "You have to," she said, "this room will kill you. Human biology will be destroyed in this chamber, that's what the scientists had said."

He smiled, "did you forget? Eureka, I gave up my humanity for you. I'm not the human I was before."

The realization hit her. He was immune to the effects of the machine just as she was. When they returned to earth, Nirvash had transformed them both. Neither of them were human or corallian, but something much much more. Nirvash's last gift to them after all those years. Could she have known this moment would come?

"But their powering the weapon. If we remove you, I think it will stop it."

"It will," she said quickly, trying to think.

"How can I remove you. There must be a way? Something the scientists may have said that you mentioned before?"

Eureka thought hard and she looked back at her wing, and then frowned. It was still purple.

"But that changed when Renton-," she paused and then her eyes grew wide. "Renton, kiss me! Kiss me and think about that dream you had!"

"The dream, why?"

The room had become incredibly bright. The trappar began to move like rolling waves above them towards the front. She could already feel the stinging pain creeping in.

"Just trust me!"

He hesitated, looking at the waves above. Then he smiled. "You haven't let me down before." He kneeled down, leaned forward, took her head in both hands, and kissed her. Eureka closed her eyes, wishing she could take him in her arms, but instead focused on the kiss and the memory.

A sharp pain shot through Eureka right wing. All the tendrils shot out, snapping in every which direction. She pulled back and gasped. Purple petals flaked off and sifted into dust in the air. The entire wing turned bright white and then slowly dimmed back to the vibrant green like her other wing. The glowing walls around them cracked and shuddered, light pouring out of them and then slipping back into the open hole in the ceiling. It was over.

Eureka slowly pulled away from him and looked up to the sky above. The purple glow was gone. They had won.

"We did it. We stopped it from happening," she said as though the words carried with them an age old burden she never knew she had. She fell into Renton's arms, relaxing and letting him hold her. "We did it."

"I know," he said, tightening his arms around her. " I know."

"You don't understand. There's so much more than anyone knows. We've changed everything. It worked. I think this is what we had to do."

"Yo, Kid. You there?" a voice cracked from above. "You even alive?"

"Yea!" he yelled back, "the weapon is disabled."

"Good. Let's get out of here."

Renton gently pulled away and jumped up onto the Xellien, climbing into the cockpit. He sat there for a second and muttered something deep under his breath. He slammed the council with his fist and looked over to the side of Xellien. Eureka followed his gaze and saw the right leg had torn off.

"It was weak before I even left the hanger. I'm shocked we even made it this far," he said, leaning on the council like a man would on crutches.

"You in trouble?" the comm cracked.

"We'll need a lift. The Xellien is out of fuel and the legs are busted. We can't get out."

"Swinging by now. Standby."

Eureka stood up from her seat, feeling a strange sensation leave her as she did, as though she had been sitting there for more than just a day's worth of time, but years. She turned and looked back at the seat, staring at the torn tendrils that once dug deep into her wing. Now they bent and twisted every which way, shredded, burnt, and blasted away by the power inside. She understood that this image. This throne represented much more than a weapon, it was her past and fear, her regret and guilt. She bore the pain and now it was gone. Her life as a tool was over, she didn't know why, but she was sure of it.

She turned her gaze up to Renton who patted the console of Xellien gently.

"I don't know how we can take it with us."

"I think, Renton, it completed its mission," she said, "I think he's happy."

He nodded slowly, "I get that sensation too. Why is that?"

She smiled, realizing he still didn't understand feelings like she did. Her body and her mind were so different than his, yet they both belong together.

A blast of wind fell from above, nearly knocking her off her feet. She studied herself.

"We can't land," Artisen said from the comm. "Can you climb up?"

Renton and Eureka looked around. The Xellien was too far down and the walls were broken and jagged, unsuitable for bear hands.

Xellien shook, it's massive frame leaning back. The two purple eyes flashed, and it's right arm slid across the floor lazily and limp like. It lifted up and the hand formed a platform. Eureka looked at Xellien who was staring right back at her. She could feel the reassurance in those eyes shining on her like warm candle light, dim, but alive.

She stepped onto the platform and the arm lifted her up to Renton. He jumped and fell right next to her. The massive beast leaned back up from a crawl to a kneeling position. It leaned its back against the wall, supporting itself. The arm lifted her all the way up and out of the hole. Wind blasted around them as they emerged from within the ship.

Out on thin air, a door opened. A woman with raven black hair unfamiliar to Eureka reached out.

"Don't worry, she's with us," Renton said. With those words of reassurance, she grabbed the hand and fell inside. She immediately turned around just as Renton fell in behind her. She rushed back to the door and looked out, the women quickly moved out of her way.

Beneath them a column of smoke spiraled up from the hole and past them, falling up into the sky. Inside, the Xellien stared at them. It's unchanging face looking up, no expression but metal brows, a steel chin, and iron cheek. A machine crafted by man and coralian alike. A revolution in the merger of metal and biologically based technologies. A child of two species. Amongst all these feelings she could feel something deeper inside the expressionless face.

She felt love.

The face completely disappeared behind the hole as they pulled away and the door closed shut. She could feel one last wave, so distinct and clear, that she would never need the words to know from whom it came.

She closed her eyes and said, "Goodbye."

She had no doubt the man in white robes who decended with her into the black recesses of her mind was Xellien in its spiritual form. It stayed with her at every depth and never left. It truly had been a guardian and protector. And above all else, it had been a member of their family. She smiled, despite the sadness she felt leaving it behind, knowing somehow this would be the last time. It was returning to where the coralians had gone. She didn't know how, but she knew it was returning back to family after having completed its mission.

A wave of fatigue flashed over her whole body. She suddenly realized just how tired she was. Gently she turned to renton, leaned against him and let herself fall into blackness.

Tremor stood dumbfounded, a mixture of emotion from himself and the alternate soul stuck inside his body. General Collin surged fury and anger inside of his body. He fell to his knees, his fists so tightly clenched together that a drops of blood dripped from his knuckles.

Past the cracked screen, the tower of the UF still stood as brilliant as ever.

"Impossible," he cursed, slamming his fist into the ground. He looked around the crew pits, but they were filled with corpses. The attack from the Xellien had all but destroyed the bridge in a power surge. As he looked down, he notice a few gruesome cuts lining his sides, but he was still alive. He brought himself to his feet and began to replan everything, beginning from step one, recounting all the pieces.

The wall behind him exploded. Shrapnel sprayed across the room, shredding the floor and walls, tearing into them like claws from a vicious beast. The blast threw him against the floor and spiraling into the crew pit below until a seat stopped him. He weakly stood back up and looked over, finding a massive metallic hand floating in the air in front of him. It pulled back and another came forward. They both tore open a hole revealing a the Xellien from its chest to its head.

Tremor crawled up to the command stage and walked forward, standing in the center. The Xellien stared at him, eyes focused on him.

Tremor laughed, his voice dry and crackly. "You think you've won, don't you? You think you've beaten me? The coralians, protectors and learners of the human race. Perhaps the most powerful race in this universe and yet so afraid to be alone. Pathetic."

_You will return and be punished for your actions,_ a voice boomed in his head.

"Even if you did kill me, I would find another body to posses."

_That will never occur,_ Tremor felt a strange sensation run throughout his body as though someone had sucked the air from his lungs. He felt something _leave_ him, lighter than atmosphere. He stood there, his mind less calculating, less intelligent. He was himself again without the strange entity that had inhabited his mind so many years ago. He couldn't think or see clearly, the numbers and calculations now a confusing mess in his head. He had lost him. Collin was gone.

He was just an experienced officer with strategic talent.

"Give him back!" he yelled.

_His justice is served and he has been sent to where he belongs. As for you, your justice comes._

"Justice? What could hope to bind me to justice? You may have destroyed the weapon, but I still have _eight _more just like it. They aren't nearly as powerful, but I doubt there will be a fleet out there that can handle me. I'll take this ship to the capitol and destroy it. I'll cripple the UF and continue with the plans! You think you've won, but you're wrong!" He laughed and spat at the Xellien. But it did not respond.

Its body leaned back and fell against the opposite wall in the chamber. Tremor stepped forward, staring at the creature leaning against the wall. The intelligence in its eyes faded away. The creature was dead.

He spat again. "Foolish thing. This war is far from over." He stepped forward and stood at the head of his bridge. He jumped down into the crew pit and pushed the the corpse out of the helm's seat. He took its place and charged the thrusters to maximum. It would take an hour, but he would arrive soon and lay waste to the entire city. There would be enough crew on board to destroy it all.

He looked up at the tower, a grin on his face, which slowly faded. Something massive was heading towards him, thousands of black dots quickly growing larger.

"What in the world is that?"

His head shot to a beeping sound on the console near him. He jumped to his feet and raced to the console, recognizing it as the radar station. His mind wasn't so quick as it once was when he had Collin's mind.

He studied the virtual map and noticed thousands of red blinking dots racing towards the large green dot in the center.

A chill ran through his stomach. He ran back to the helm.

"Squadrons sixteen, seventeen, nine, twelve, twenty two, thirty nine, forty three, and so forth and so forth are all within range, General!" Morrick said, leaning in his seat with his feet propped up on the keyboard. "That'd be enough."

The general stood in his seat staring out at the horizon. The V shaped ship floated in front of them many miles away. Its nose pointed towards them and the cannons pointed off to the sides, away from them. So long as it stayed forward, those cannons couldn't touch them.

"Prepare to send call to the ship. Let us see if they're willing to surrender."

"Sir! The ship is turning. It's coming about with the cannons."

The general hesitated. "Well, we gave a mercy a try. Fire at will."

"Roger that," he grabbed the microphone from his desk, threw it up into the air and caught it with his other hand right next to his mouth. "You may fire, gentlemen and ladies."

A stream of red lines dashed across the sky and away from them. They all tied together and hit the massive ship, ripping it to shreds, and that was that. The Megalith, as the general heard it was called from Artisen, turned into a ball of fire, disintegrating from the blast. A wave of violet energy blasted from the explosion, racing across their plane like a tsunami.

"Brace for impact!" The general yeld. The wave slammed against them, sending their ship upwards. The fleets around them caught the wave, riding it like a surfer. All of the ship dipped back down and landed on a higher level of trapar, the wave flying onward.

"I'm sure some people will be very happy to hear that's coming their way."

"For sure!" Morrick whistled, "I've never ridden a wave that big."

"Anyone damaged?" Machalle asked.

"Negative, just a bumpy ride."

"The enemy ship?"

"Sizzled to a crisp. I'm getting several confirmation from different ship's optical stations that the ship was fully destroyed in the second blast. There looks to be little to no debri left over."

"The shuttle?"

"They confirmed the same. They are alive, sir."

The general fell back into his seat, taking a deep breath. Somehow he felt they just avoided a very big crises. However the whole situation led to a lot of questions about the technology the UF used. He shook his head, his mind spinning. Perhaps now the other admirals would listen to him and the war could be put to an end.

"Tell the squadrons to return back to their stations. And tell them congratulations, we may have just saved the world."

"Copy that," Morrick said with a smile.

Renton walked out over the debris of the Night Iris. The fires had died away and now all that was left was a large mess of melted metal. Not that it meant too much to him. He didn't have anything onboard that really belonged to him. The Night Iris had moved on past his supposed death and all remnants of his life aboard the gekko-go were left when the ship was remodeled for the modern age, except that that one room.

He sighed, bending down and dragging his hand in the ash, trying to feel for something or anything.

"Just more ash!" a voice yelled from a pile somewhere from his right. There were groups all around, all looking for surviving pieces of the Night Iris. So far no one had found anything.

He stood up. Maybe that was for the best. The world was about to change, his father, or adopted father, had told him so before they landed. He had a hard time believing that wouldn't be the case. The weapon they all faced was a living nightmare and everyone saw it from them to the UF, but more importantly the UF. Tremor had been one of their own. His strange betrayal and amassing of military resources proved doubt and gave birth to new concerns. Inverse Drive technology would have to be reconsidered and potentially removed from military implementation.

He sincerely hope that would be the case.

"Are you alright?"

Rentoned turned around and found Eureka standing on a pile of rubble behind him. Parts of her dress were scorched. A couple of bandages wrapped around her arms and legs. And her hair was of the purest white he had ever seen in his life. She was more beautiful than ever, an angle. Her wings shined brightly in the setting sun behind her.

She gently walked down from the pile of rubble and fell into his arms, holding him close. "Renton?"

"I am," he said tiredly. "I guess it's a little weird being back. And to think that's it. The war could be coming to an end, the inverse drive decommissioned, and more importantly," he reached up and put his hand against her cheek. She reached up and held it against her. "We're together."

"I know," she said. "Better now than seven years from now," she said, smiling.

He felt an odd feeling. After arriving they all took a well deserved break, using rations from the crash. During that time, Eureka told him everything that had happened about meeting with the coralians, traveling back to the past with their memories, the missing year, and everything else. He believed every word, but somehow it all felt too surreal. Still, he had seen pretty strange things throughout his life. It really wasn't that weird.

"That really all happened?" he said, confused. "And you remember it all?"

She pulled away from his chest. "Yeah. It's weird seeing you this young. You were sort of scruffy in the future."

He laughed and touched his cheek. He hadn't shaved in a couple of days. "Could happen again."

"You should shave."

"Don't like it?"

She shrugged, "A softer cheek is a kissable one."

"Oh, is that so?" he said. He grabbed her by the waste and span her around. She laughed and pulled herself up to his chest and wrapped her around around his neck. "What about my lips? Are those to hairy for you?"

She looked down as if studying them. "I can't tell," she said with a smirk.

"Too far? Maybe a little closer?"

She pulled a little closer, their lips nearly touching. "Hm." she mumbled.

"Can you see now?"

"Now all I see is your nose," she said, her smirk turning into a wide smile. "Guess we'll just have to feel for it."

"I guess you're right." He close his eyes as she leaned in and they kiss. Her lips fell against his, soft and firm. Warm trickled down into his stomach as he held her and she held him. When they pulled away, he almost wished they could keep going forever.

"I love you, Renton."

"I love you, Eureka."


	16. Epilogue: Higher Than the Sun

Epilogue:

Higher than the Sun

_Seven years later in the forgotten world_

The heat was terrible. He didn't know how he remained conscious or was even alive. Only a few feet away a pile of metal burned and boiled. He tried to breath, but his lungs felt like cement in his chest. Darkness swirled around his eyes. He was going and would soon be gone. The two V shaped ships had downed the Night Iris without even breaking a sweat flew high above, moving on without so much as a search party.

The aching of his heart surpassed that of all the other pain. He saw the escape pod blasted away into dust. Artisen and Kess had died. He imaged he would be crying quite profusely were not for the hot air drying his eyes and his lungs too heavy to even make a whisper.

He felt something on his shoulder, a touch so soft, it could have been the sunlight peeking through a crack in the roof. He wanted to turn and look, but everything inside him seemed to be sleeping and growing cold.

"You'll be alright," a voice whispered like a quiet breeze around him.

His eyes moved around. He tried to find the figure, but he could barely manage to look left, and with his weakening body, the rest of his head swung right, his eyes falling on the image of a man.

His eyes watered. The man was glorious, white glowing clothing, that of some uniform made by celestial hands. His hair a lush, raven black. The face of a man he hadn't seen since he was but a boy.

"Father?"

The figure smiled, warmth radiating across his flattening chest. The figure leaned forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. He could almost feel it. Something wet and cool began sliding down his cheeks. He was crying.

"I love you," he whispered, "And things are about to change. They just went back, and I'm sure they'll succeed. This world was never meant to be, Irik. It will soon fade and things will be as they should be"

He wanted to respond, to know who was this "they" and to where they went back and how it could change this breath from being his last. But his body stopped. He could only stare into the face of his father, that beaming smile and how it warmed it soul. When was the last time he had felt like this? So long ago. He let out the last breath.

A flash of light. He breathed deeply again.

Irik blinked, staring out the viewport window out across a beautiful blue ocean that glimmered and sparkled in the moonlight. It twisted and turned several thousand feet below, but the detail was still vibrant in his eyes.

He blinked again. Confused. Something soft and assuring slipped in between his fingers and held his hands. Startled, he twisted around to find Terina holding onto him.

"What's happening?" he said, trying hard to remember where he had been. He was just aboard the Night Iris flying it on a crash course into the dying edge of the Scub Coral. No, it was worst than that, he had already crashed and thoroughly burned. He was dead. He had _died_. And yet, here he was standing in his personal laboratory, the New Pacific ocean staring at him through the window.

"We were just aboard the Night Iris. It was bad. Cataclysmic."

"Night Iris?" Terina frowned, pausing, "We were," she said slowly, as though confused at her own words, "But it was destroyed by the Megalith, a few month before the Great Treaty. You were there seven years ago."

"I was," he said, racing through his mind the past seven years. They were different than he remembered. Or was he just imagining it? The war was over. The inverse drive discontinued and destroyed. The world was a lot more peaceful. "I remember war, I think."

"What war?"

"I," he caught himself, the thoughts and memories falling out of his mind like heavy myst. Memories, feelings, confusion, and something else all disappeared. The image of a man. It warmed him, but now it was fading.

He blinked once more. "I guess it was nothing," he said, nodding reassuringly. "Just a thought, I guess. Back to work?"

Terina nodded, seemingly equally confused, but assured. "I think we're on the right track."

Irik had to agree. It was five years running, and he was sure he and Terina almost had it. An artificial natural Trapar generator. The last seven years since the ending of the war had brought about a realization of the collapsing and decreasing trapar levels. Tremor, the terrible man that he was, had managed to build a machine that probably would have sustained the world's trapar for several years, perhaps indefinitely, if he had been allowed to build more facilities.

Fortunately, that wouldn't be allowed. Tremor had died on the ship, his terrible war machine obliterated by a fleet of UF warships. A lot had changed since then. Both the POF and the UF had broken up into several different nations. Races had become prominent and diverse again. Religion flourished. The world had changed.

And at last he realized his dream, a scientist developing technology to benefit and strengthen human life across the world. The paychecks weren't half bad either.

"Well then, this ought to be an interesting night," he said, wrapping his arm around his beautiful and wonderful wife, Terina.

They walked back to the counter and he stopped next to a metal shelf filled with books, documents, and folders, none of which were organized well. His eyes drifted to the one open space untouched with mess where sat a picture of his Father, Xellien.

Warmth poured into his beat chest, life full and pumping. Somehow, he felt, this was how things were meant to be. He touched the rim of the frame, smiled, and turned back to the spherical machine in the center of the room.

This device would change the world. It would bring back the Trapar, saving the precious ecosystem left by the Coralians that had mostly faded away. Tonight they would turned it on, and he was sure it would work. Refers around the world would finally put down their surf boards and take to the skies like they did nearly a decade ago.

Things were at peace, and it all felt just as it should be, with Terina, the woman who felt like his best friend since the moment he met her.

He glanced at the picture on the shelf one last time, resisting the urge to cry.

"Let's make him proud, shall we?"

The light faded and Artisen blinked. He coughed and shifted uncomfortably in the beach chair. The sun beamed warm light across his body and the touch of a cool lemon drink tingled between his finger. He tapped his teeth together and glanced to his right to find Nina laying across a towel, absorbing the sun.

"This is different," he said, recounting the moments before he was plummeting through the air about to die.

"What is?" Nina asked, turning back onto her stomach.

"I'm alive," he said.

"That is very _strange_, now that you bring it up," she said, not sounding very estranged.

"No, I'm quite certain we were both aboard the Night Iris before it blew up and ships… There were ships chasing us. Powerful ones. A lot like the Megalith, actually."

Nina flipped over, her hair flinging a spurt of dirt at his face. "Wait!" She said, staring at him intently. "I remember!"

He paused, "remember what?"

She paused, "I don't know…"

They both paused. Artisen glanced at his drink. "You got dirt in my drink."

"Oh, does that make you sad?"

"Well, I wasn't going to say anything, but-," he stopped when a pair of soft lips touched his cheek, kissing him gently.

"Better?"

"Well, I thin-"

She kissed the side of his mouth. "And?"

"Hmm-"

She kissed him tenderly on the lips, filling him with the most peace and wonder he felt in years. But this wasn't abnormal. He and Nina had been together for seven years, ever since the incident. They were meant to be, and they both retired young and happy, thinking a lifetime of near death experiences warranted an early retirement. The wars were finally over. No, they have been over for nearly a decade.

The rest of his memories faded, whatever they were, whatever they meant, or from wherever they came. Probably just some secret, inner creativity he never knew he had.

He smiled, and kissed her cheek back.

He didn't even like Lemonade.

Maurice blinked. The cold was gone in his chest. He looked out over the metropolis in front of him. There was something he loved about this city, Silverglade, a city that lived up to its name. The thousands of buildings stretched on, glimmering in the light of the sun like precious metal. Beneath him weaved the streets that brought the city to life, thousands of cars running throughout, sparkling.

He sat on a small wooden chair, looking out across the horizon on a floor forty levels up. The wind lightly brushed his face.

The tactile sensation of tapping his pen on paper reminded him that he was in the middle of a poem. He glanced at the parchment he had purchased that morning, noticing the wet ink still dried in the light of sun. Writing with a pen satisfied his inner need to write more than anything. The crinkling sensations as the metal tip of the pen dragged along the rough surface of the paper. He couldn't resist a smile just thinking about it.

Two hands slipped around his neck, and a he felt a chin plop onto the top of his head.

"So," she said, looking out at the city beyond them, "it's a lovely day for a walk?"

"True," he said, smiling as he reached up and touched the hand of his beloved. "And how are you, my Daia?"

"Wondering if we should go for a walk now, or if we should go to see a movie."

"Movie?" he said, his ear perking slightly. He had come to like those a lot. Maybe one day he would take his pen to a script. "So a walk and a movie? I think those two could be arranged."

"I think the walk should come first," she said.

He nodded, chuckling, loving the way she flirted with him after only a year of marriage. A thought struck him distantly, something about a war that was happening and the end of times.

He thought better of it. It went as quickly as it came, and it was gone. He visibly shrugged.

"Something wrong?" Daia asked as he stood up and set the paper and pen on a small table.

"Ah, nothing important. I think I should give Mom and Dad a call. They wanted to talk about the reunion next week with Gekko-State." In a moment that caught even him by surprise, he felt a sudden and powerful wave of satisfaction, like he had obtained something important he thought he lost, all at the thought of his mother.

Years had passed since the wars ended, and he and his Mom achieved the relationship he had always longed for.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Daia asked, her brilliant, emerald blue eyes staring at him.

"Better than fine," he admitted, shrugging off the thought. "Just really excited for that walk, I guess," he chuckled lightly.

She took her hand and they both walked off to enjoy another wonderful day.

Eureka swung around, laughing with more joy and happiness than she had ever felt in her life. Kess laughed, clinging to her mother tightly as she spun around. "He told the truth, he told the truth!"

Eureka laughed and slowed, letting her adopted daughter pull back gently.

"Who did?" she asked.

"Artisen! He said I was going to see you!"

Eureka frowned, uncertain her daughter meant. They hadn't seen Artisen or Nina in a few weeks since they left to the coast of New California for their anniversary.

A wave of static crossed throughout her body, a strange feeling of nostalgia and memories of a life she had nearly forgotten.

She looked up to see Renton standing at the door, his eyes telling her all she needed to know.

"Was that it?" he asked, staring intently.

She nodded gently, her hair standing up all over her body. "That must have been it." She set Kess on the ground, "go to the dinner table, dad and I will join you in a second."

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, not at all, my love. You are amazing!"

She giggled and ran off, reassured by the word's of her mother.

Renton stepped up to her and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

She felt fine. There was something nice about thinking on that old world, that place that would never be. No wars. No needing to save everything. She smiled and buried her head in his chest. "Perfectly," she said, "did you feel anything?"

He shrugged, "Time travel must not have much effect on me," he said, sounding as though that made him some kind of superhero. Although in her eyes, he truly was.

She pulled away to stare up into his eyes. At that moment they had crossed the meeting point between the two alternate time lines, a temporal shockwave. Even now as she looked into Renton's eyes, the memories were fading for him. For her, they would remain, a gift from that coralian crystal hidden in the mountain that was now no more than ash. She had lived that life and told Renton the stories of when they met and their travels across the land to find a way back to their ships. She told him of her time on the ship and the many battles she, Artisen, Irik, and the children had fought.

Sometimes she almost forgot those wars existed with the world being so different now.

She laughed, "weird, right?"

He nodded and rubbed her back. He turned to look out the window. Eureka followed his eyes to the rolling waves of the ocean. Water turning up and over itself creating beauty in the setting sun.

She leaned against him and sighed pleasantly. He had wanted to live next to the ocean ever since he heard that Trapar levels were depleting around the world, the last thing the Coralians had left. Most of the scub coral had dissipated. The world was now, she imagined, much of what is was thousands of years ago, before the Coralians had ever arrived. Earth was back.

"We should surf tomorrow, right?"

She laughed, "We do every day," she kissed him on the cheek and headed for the Kitchen.

"Yeah, but tomorrow is the same, right?"

"Yup!"

"Good. Let's keep it that way."

And the years passed away much like today did for everyone. Xellien rested in peace. The world had been changed for the better. Eureka would count every day and remember, that despite it all, she made it through. Sometimes alone, sometimes very not alone. She was free, she was changed, and the world was better for it.

And Renton had become a man. A man that he knew his father would have loved and been proud of. He carried with him the lessons taught by his many acquaintances and friends, remembering never to give up, no matter how hopeless or dark.

They continued being the beacon of hope for many on Earth, the prophetic words of Nirvash echoing throughout the the Billions of lives their examples would touch. They had, at last, reached higher than the sun.

The End


End file.
